A suspect was arrested in connection with a homicide that happened on Oct. 9, according to a Metropolitan Police Department press release.
At approximately 8:00 a.m., police responded to the 4200 block of Kansas Avenue, NW, due to a report of an unconscious person. There, they found 32-year-old Michael Stroops suffering from stab wounds. He was pronounced dead on scene.
Kenneth Davis, 52, was arrested for first-degree murder while armed on Dec. 1.
Metropolitan Police Department detectives are investigating a homicide that occurred on Nov. 30.
According to a press release, at approximately 11:01 p.m., officers found a man on the 1200 Block of U Street, NW, suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. His identity is being withheld pending next of kin notification.
A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a status hearing for a murder defendant after denying his release request.
Brandon Randall is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 30-year-old David Brandon on Feb. 24, 2019, on the 4000 block of Georgia Avenue, NW.
Randall, 34, is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence in this case.
Defense attorney Anthony Mathews asked Judge Milton Lee to release his client into home confinement since he has been detained since July 2019. Mathew argued that over two years of being held at DC Jail without a trial violates Randall’s speedy trial rights. Judge Lee denied the motion because he found significant probable cause during the preliminary hearing, which serves to determine if the case has enough evidence to go to trial.
Mathews also requested two weeks to receive and review paperwork.
Parties are set to reconvene on Dec. 16 for a status hearing.
Editors Note: The defendant in this case has since been acquitted on all counts.
Both the prosecution and defense called witnesses to testify in the continuation of Daniel Parker’s murder trial on Nov. 30.
Dewayne Shorter, 33, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting 38-year-old Daniel Parker on July 26, 2017, on the 2000 block of Fairlawn Avenue, SE.
The prosecution called two witnesses: a Metropolitan Police Department detective and a member of Parker’s family. Both testified about a conversation between two people at the crime scene.
The detective testified to seeing the two step aside from a group of people and have a conversation. Body Worn Camera footage showed the interaction. In it, the two individuals can be seen standing by themselves.
The victim’s family member testified that she had spoken to one of the individuals who was seen conversing and they told her that the other person had asked her to give the police an inaccurate description of the suspect. The victim’s family member also testified that she had spoken to both individuals days after the shooting and that both, separately, had told her that Shorter was the shooter.
Defense attorney Jon Norris questioned the legitimacy of these claims, since the witness had not seen anything herself but was simply relaying what she had heard from other individuals.
The defense then called a neighbor who had seen someone leaving the area of the shooting to the witness stand.
The witness testified that he had heard gunshots and then peaked out of his front door. He saw an individual who did not look like Shorter holding a long firearm. This witness testified that he knew Shorter and would have known if the person he saw was him.
In their cross examination, the prosecution asked why the witness never went to the police with this information. The witness said that he has lived in Southeast DC his entire life and has been conditioned not to call the police.
The defense then called another witness. This witness was stopped by police on the night of the shooting. Officers told him he was stopped because he matched the description of an individual involved in a shooting.
Judge Marisa Demeo requested the witness to continue his testimony when the trial resumes on Dec. 1.
A DC Superior Court judge gave a prosecutor one more week to indict a murder defendant.
Terrell Poe, 34, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for his alleged role in the shooting of 30-year-old Christopher Washington on Sept. 23, 2020, on the 400 block of Southern Avenue, SE.
During the Nov. 30 hearing, the prosecutor requested more time to file indictment charges. Judge Milton Lee granted them a week to get it done.
Madalyn Harvey, Poe’s attorney, indicated that she still needs evidentiary materials. The prosecutor said they do not know when it will all be available at this time.
Poe is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 7 for a felony status conference.
A prosecutor in a murder case said on Nov. 30 that they expect to indict the defendant soon.
Devonte Brothers is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting of 30-year-old Arkeem Jackson on June 16, 2019, on the 4300 block of 4th Street, SE. During this shooting, four other victims were non-fatally wounded by the gunfire.
Brothers, 26, is also charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting of 27-year-old Deron Leake on Oct. 17, 2019, on the 4200 block of 6th Street, SE.
The prosecution said they should have all indictment charges filed by the next hearing on Feb. 25.
Judge Milton Lee asked parties to turn over discovery evidence by the time the indictment process is finished.
A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a felony arraignment for a murder defendant as the case approaches indictment.
Jaykell Mason is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 29-year-old Terence Dantzler on the 700 block of 8th Street, NW, on Feb. 13, 2020. The 22-year-old is also charged with assault on a police officer while armed in relation to the incident.
An April report from the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) found Mason competent to stand trial. Defense attorney Roderick Thompson objected to the findings and hired his own expert, who has since evaluated the defendant twice in 2021.
During the Nov. 29 hearing, Thompson asked Judge Milton Lee to transfer his client to St. Elizabeths hospital, DC’s psychiatric institution. He said Mason could meet with new medical experts regarding his mental competency at the hospital.
However, Judge Lee denied the request.
The prosecution said they will have an update regarding the status of the grand jury by the next court hearing, which is scheduled for Dec. 7.
A DC Superior Court judge issued protective orders in a murder case and scheduled a status hearing.
Taylor Emanuel, 38, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection to a shooting that killed Jimmy Beynum on Jan. 23, 2020.
During the Nov. 29 hearing, Judge Milton Lee set a $100 bond for a handful of misdemeanor cases that Emanual accumulated on top of the murder charge. Attorney Russell Hairston has been appointed to handle the misdemeanor cases.
The prosecution was granted protective orders for Body Worn Camera footage from Metropolitan Police Department officers who were at the crime scene and for the authorizing of a disclosure of Information.
Judge Lee scheduled a status hearing for Dec. 9 to give new counsel time to review the case and determine how he would like to proceed.
Editors Note: The defendant in this case has since been acquitted on all counts.
A murder trial continued on Nov. 29 with prosecutors calling on several witnesses with backgrounds in forensics and law enforcement to testify.
Dewayne Shorter is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 38-year-old Daniel Parker on July 26, 2017, on the 2000 block of Fairlawn Avenue, SE. Shorter, 33, is also charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm while armed during a crime of violence.
The first witness to take the stand was a formerly special police officer (SPO) who worked at an apartment complex near the shooting. He is now a corrections officer. He said that on the day of the homicide, he was patrolling on foot with his partner when they noticed a teenage girl in an alleyway. The officer and his partner went to check on the girl when they were approached by a young man, who they identified as Shorter.
The officer said he and Shorter engaged in a brief verbal altercation, during which Shorter mentioned ammunition belonging to an AR-15. The officer also said Shorter said he had an extended clip.
The officer told the prosecutor he did not know Shorter but saw him nearly every day. He could recognize him by his distinct walk, where he favored his left leg.
Defense attorney Jon Norris asked the witness about his knowledge of firearms and ammunition. The officer responded, saying his knowledge is based on his training.
The second witness, a forensic firearms examiner, was asked by the prosecutor about the difference between a rapid-fire pistol and an assault rifle. The firearms examiner said an assault rifle is usually meant to be shot from the shoulder, and the placement of the bullets in the gun is different from a rapid-fire pistol. He also said the barrels of the gun are different.
The firearms examiner presented a casing from the shooting, but said it was too damaged for him to tell what gun it came from. He also confirmed that one of the guns from the shooting was a Smith & Wesson assault rifle.
The third witness called to testify was an MPD homicide detective. He said he received an assignment to interview a gunshot victim, who was Shorter. The detective said Shorter was uncooperative and told the officer he didn’t “f*** with the police”.
The fourth witness was another MPD homicide detective assigned as the lead detective on the case. The detective confirmed he had spoken with one of the witnesses before the grand jury and that he was one of the officers who arrested Shorter.
The detective was asked if he showed the witness a photo of the defendant featuring him in a black top and blue jeans standing in front of a car when talking to them. The detective said he did not, but he did show the SPO.
The prosecution asked the detective if he recovered the phone from Parker and possibly got the photo of the defendant from his phone. The detective said he did not remember.
The fifth witness was a chief medical examiner who DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo recognized him as an expert in the field of pathology based on his expertise.
The medical examiner said Parker’s body sustained multiple injuries from gunshot wounds which resulted in his death. The prosecutor showed the medical exam report for Parker. The medical examiner identified the first gunshot wound as entering on Parker’s right cheek area and exiting from the back of his head.
Parker was shot a total of 32 times.
The examiner said it was important to differentiate between entrance and exit wounds.
He identified the rest of the entrance and exit wounds on the body. He said a gunshot shattered Parker’s femur, the upper part of the leg, which means he was not able to walk or run away. He said he believes Parker was shot with a high-caliber weapon because the wounds were of varying shapes and sizes, and high-caliber weapons fragments, which causes the different shapes of the wounds.The prosecutor showed a digital X-ray of Parker’s body and the examiner indicated where bullets were embedded in Parker’s body.
Norris questioned the examiner and asked if Parker’s toxicology showed his alcohol level was over the legal limit, and the examiner said yes. Norris asked if Parker was actually shot in his left leg, not the right leg as the report stated, and the examiner said yes.
Judge Demeo scheduled for the trial to continue on Nov. 30.
On Nov. 29, a former Catholic priest went on trial for two counts of misdemeanor sex abuse. The non-jury trial ended with a DC Superior Court judge finding him guilty of one of the two counts.
The victim was raised with a reverence for priests, the prosecutor said in her opening statement. A life-long Catholic, she attended a Northwest, DC parish near her home. There, she met the defendant, Urbano Vasquez, a priest who she learned was from Mexico just like her. He presided over a mass of the present body for her late husband.
In the Spring of 2017, the victim went to church for confession. Vasquez heard her confession.
“What happened… during that sacred interaction was a sexual assault,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor alleged that the defendant touched the victim’s breast over her clothing on two occasions during the interaction in question.
The victim said she thought it was an accident at first. She said she backed up from Vasquez, but he allegedly touched her breast in a similar manner again. She had wanted to say more during the confession but felt too uncomfortable to continue.
“I just wanted to run away,” she said on the witness stand.
In November 2018, the victim told another priest from the same parish about the alleged incident. This priest contacted law enforcement on her behalf, D.C. Witness previously reported. She also told her mother on the same day of the alleged incident. Her mother told her to stay away from Vasquez, the victim said.
Vasquez has since been convicted of three counts of second-degree child sex abuse and one count of misdemeanor sex abuse. He was sentenced to a total of 15 years for these offenses. The two counts of misdemeanor sex abuse for which the defendant was put on trial on Nov. 29 were initially part of a seven-count indictment in this case.
“My faith is not in priests, my faith is in God,” she said.
The victim’s mother and the priest who the victim came to also took the stand. During closing arguments, defense attorney David Ritcher pointed out how both of these witnesses are only testifying to what they were told by the victim, rather than their first-hand observations. He argued that the evidence was not enough to satisfy the burden of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Judge Juliet McKenna ultimately concluded that the evidence was only strong enough to find the defendant guilty of one of two misdemeanor sex abuse counts. Parties then proceeded to sentence Vasquez and the victim returned to give an impact statement.
“Why did he hurt me when I was in pain already,” she asked. She said the question weighed deeply on her soul, though she knows it cannot be answered in this forum.
Judge McKenna imposed the maximum sentence of 180 days, noting the position of authority Vasquez was in at the time of the offense.
Vasquez is currently in the custody of DC’s Department of Corrections, where he will serve the 180-day sentence. He will eventually be transferred to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons.
A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a felony status conference for a murder defendant.
Shaun Brown, 21, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting of 47-year-old Dametrics Evans on Oct. 25 on the 4900 Block of G Street, SE. According to court documents, Evans was already unconscious when Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers arrived on the scene. However, an adult male victim was found conscious suffering from gunshot wounds. As of Oct. 25, the male victim has been in critical but stable condition.
During the Nov. 29 hearing, Brown was not present in court because he was in quarantine at DC Jail. It was not clear when he will be out of quarantine.
Defense attorney Marnitta King raised concerns regarding her client’s mental competency. According to court documents, Brown was unable to look detectives in the eye during interviews due to psychological issues.
The prosecution said they plan to DNA test the shell casings and a knife that was discovered at the scene of the incident by MPD officers.
Judge Milton Lee scheduled a felony status conference for Dec. 17 and a preliminary hearing for Jan. 7.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detectives are investigative a homicide that happened on Nov. 28.
According to a press release, at approximately 6:29 p.m. that day, officers responded to the 3000 block of 30th Street, SE, for the report of a shooting. There, they found 28-year-old Deandre Hunter suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
A defense attorney requested a murder defendant’s release from DC Jail due to the facility’s conditions of confinement.
Aaron Brown is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting of 13-year-old Malachi Lukes on the 600 block of S Street, NW, on March 1, 2020. Brown is one of four defendants in this case.
During the Nov. 24 hearing, defense attorney Joseph Yarbough argued for his 25-year-old client to be released with GPS monitoring. He motioned for release in response to the U.S. Marshal Service’s report on their inspection of the jail.
Yarbough said the issues at the jail “are pervasive, not specific to one person at the jail.” He also cited the acting marshal for the U.S. District Court of Washington, Lamont Ruffin, who referred to a “systemic failure” at the jail because the facility did not meet U.S. standards in the investigation.
“Brown’s been in some of the units that have the worst conditions,” Yarbough said. Brown is seeking help for medical treatment, has had a fear for his safety at the jail and experienced abuse from the guards, according to Yarbough.
The prosecution cited the behaviors and pushback received from Brown at the jail. The prosecutor said some of the issues were self incited, including him breaking the water sprinkler and destroying a light fixture in his cell.
In response, Yarbough said that Brown has been complaining about issues at the jail but nothing is done about it, so he “had to break things to get attention” from the guards and the jail conditions “interfere with the implicit rights of an individual,” such as the lack of food and water, as well as standing sewage.
Calling the conditions “unconstitutional” for pre-trial detainees, Yarbough expressed that the Department of Corrections is “unable and unwilling essentially to remedy any of these issues.” While the court has “instructed the DOC to remedy for a long time, it’s never changed a thing,” Yarbough said, “you can’t detain a person if it’s affecting punishment on a person.”
Judge Dayna Dayson said there can be a remedy, but it may not be the one that Yarbough is seeking.
The prosecutor said they can consider these conditions but are looking in the interest of the safety of the community. Because of Brown’s background, his “dangerousness” has not changed, according to the prosecution. However, the prosecution stated that “the defense seeks systemic changes that the Judge is very sympathetic to, but this is not the forum or venue to do that.”
Yarbough argued that the best remedy to the situation is release since other efforts the court has made to fix the issues didn’t work.
Judge Dayson did not agree that release is the remedy for Brown because of the seriousness of his criminal charges. She did not accept the motion during the hearing but mentioned that she will look more into the matter. Dayson said she understands they are “talking about overall moral issues” and there are “other options for remediation.”
The next hearing is Dec. 10.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) sent out two crime alerts between 9:00 p.m. on Nov. 28 and 9:00 a.m. on Nov. 29.
A crime alert was sent out at 11:18 p.m. due to a robbery investigation in the 2600 block of Douglas Place, SE. Police identified the suspects as two Black males and one Black female. All were armed with handguns.
A crime alert was sent out at 3:15 a.m.due to an attempted gun robbery in the 2100 block of Vermont Street, NW. A suspect was stopped.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detectives are investigating a Nov. 27 homicide.
At approximately 1:34 p.m. officers responded to the 2300 block of 25th Street, SE, due to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located 22-year-old Deshaun Gladden with gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead on scene, according to the press release.
