Defense counsel provided closing arguments for three co-defendants in a mass shooting trial before DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun on Aug. 15.
Mark Price, 29, and his co-defendant Antonio Murchison, 31, are charged with first-degree murder while armed, five counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault knowingly while armed, seven counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy, and seven counts of criminal gang affiliation.
The charges stem from their alleged involvement in a July 16, 2018, mass shooting on the 5300 block of 53rd Street, NE in the Clay Terrace neighborhood. The highly publicized crime left 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson dead and four other individuals with gunshot wounds.
Price is also charged with first-degree murder while armed, two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, threat to injure or kidnap a person, four counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict and first-degree burglary while armed. These charges are connected to the fatal shooting of 47-year-old Andre Hakim Young on July 30, 2018, on the 1500 block of 19th Street, NE.
A third co-defendant, Quanisha Ramsuer, 31, is charged with obstruction of justice in connection to the homicide.
Six other defendants were convicted in 2023 of charges related to the incident, including:
In her closing statement, Price’s defense attorney, Megan Allburn, provided a timeline of events to argue there were holes in the prosecution’s argument that serve as reasonable doubt.
Price was shot in December of 2017, several months before the mass shooting in Clay Terrace, according to Allburn. She argued the prosecution wanted the jury to believe this is what sparked the defendant’s animosity towards Clay Terrace, even though the incident happened over a mile outside the neighborhood and Price did not know who shot him.
Allburn went on to explain that Price did not post himself toting firearms on social media, like many of the other defendants in this case, including Murchison. His Instagram handle did not include the “df” vanity name that indicates someone is a member of the Wellington Park Crew.
“Mark Price is not Wellington Park,” Allburn insisted.
While he did own a firearm, Allburn argued this was understandable for someone who had recently been shot and wanted to protect themself.
Allburn claimed there is no no substantial evidence linking Price to the case. Other conspirators did not include Price when discussing the “beef” between Wellington Park and Clay Terrace; no witnesses identified Price as the figure in the black hoodie on surveillance footage, and no relevant phone number was connected with Price, according to Allburn.
Price’s DNA was likely found on the outside but not on the inside of a pair of gloves from the black Infiniti suspect vehicle, according to Allburn.
She also highlighted a six minute gap in a key portion of the surveillance footage.
Michael Bruckheim, Murchison’s defense attorney, conceded spoke rarely during the trial. The reason, he said, was because Murchison was rarely connected to the prosecution’s evidence.
“You barely heard his name at this trial,” Bruckheim said.
Out of the prosecution’s 87 witnesses, only seven of them ever mentioned Murchison, according to Bruckheim. Additionally, he claimed out of the four expert witnesses who testified — a cellular technology expert, an expert in latent fingerprint examination, an expert in firearm toolmark analysis and a DNA expert — none offered evidence of guilt.
Murchison’s DNA was tested against every item of evidence, and none of them showed support for his sample’s inclusion.
Bruckheim argued Murchison is not guilty of conspiracy because he was never involved in messages or other evidence of planning or preparation prior to the mass shooting. He cited messages from two weeks before the incident between Michals and Taylor, who he claimed were the ringleaders of the conspiracy. “He ain’t us,” the messages said, referring to Murchison.
Ramsuer’s defense attorney, Cary Clennon, also asked the jury to find his client not guilty of obstruction of justice in his closing statement. He argued that Ramsuer did not lie to the police or in her grand jury testimony, when she said she couldn’t see the individuals in the surveillance footage.
Lennon claimed that “I can’t see” should not be interpreted as “I don’t know” or “I don’t recognize them,” but that she simply could not see the faces of the individuals in the footage.
Parties will reconvene on Aug. 19.
