A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a murder defendant to go before a jury in 2022.
Marcus Whitaker, 31, is charged with second-degree murder while armed in the shooting of 22-year-old David Hart on July 28, 2018, on the 4300 block of 4th Street, SE. He was arrested in May 2019.
Judge Dayna Dayson set aside March 31 through April 18, 2022, for the trial.
The prosecution said they will need seven days to present their case. Defense attorney Nikki Lotze said she will need approximately a day and a half.
Judge Dayson also scheduled a trial readiness hearing for Oct. 22.
Whitaker is also charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction in this case.
A DC Superior Court judge decided to continue holding a homicide defendant at DC Jail following an earlier ruling that the case against him has enough evidence to go to trial.
James Lewis, 43, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing 30-year-old Brenea Franklin to death on the 1100 block of Bellevue Street, SE, on Jan. 31, 2021. According to court documents, Metropolitan Police Department officers found Franklin on a sidewalk with an approximately two-inch deep stab wound on the right side of her neck.
Judge Neal Kravitz found probable cause when the preliminary hearing began on Aug. 2, D.C. Witness previously reported.
When proceedings picked back up on Aug. 9, the prosecution argued that Lewis should remain held due to the particularly disturbing details of the homicide. The prosecution also said he currently has other violent criminal charges pending.
Defense attorney Bernadette Armand, however, asked Judge Kravitz to release her client into the High Intensity Supervision Program.
Judge Kravitz decided to continue holding Lewis. The defendant is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 5 for a felony status conference.
A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a hearing for a sex abuse defendant to accept a plea offer.
The 42-year-old defendant is charged with first-degree burglary and attempted second-degree sex abuse for allegedly breaking into the victim’s home and exposing himself to her as she slept on May 21.
During the Aug. 9 hearing, defense attorney Ferguson Evans said the prosecution extended a plea offer and asked Judge Juliet McKenna to schedule a hearing for his client to accept it. Judge McKenna scheduled the hearing for Sept. 15.
A DC Superior Court judge released one domestic violence defendant and held another during presentments on Aug. 7.
In total, 20 defendants were brought before the court.
The held domestic violence defendant is charged with simple assault and contempt for allegedly violating his release conditions in another domestic violence case. Judge Julie Becker scheduled him to return to court on Aug. 24.
The released domestic violence defendant is charged with assault on a police officer and simple assault. He is scheduled to return to court Nov. 11.
Two homicide defendants charged with first-degree murder while armed could not be brought before the court because they are in the hospital.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) sent out seven crime alerts between 9:00 p.m. on Aug. 8 and 9:00 a.m. on Aug 9.
A crime alert was sent out at 10:14 p.m. due to a stabbing in the 3800 block of Minnesota Avenue, NE. Police do not have information on the suspect(s).
A crime alert was sent out at 10:59 p.m. due to a stabbing investigation in the 100 block of Atlantic Street. Police do not have information on the suspect(s).
A crime alert was sent out at 11:06 p.m. due to a robbery investigation in the 3000 block of 4Th Street, SE. Police do not have information on the suspect(s).
A crime alert was sent out at 11:31 p.m. due to a gun robbery investigation on the corner of 16th and Kennedy Street, NW. Police identified the suspects as four Black men wearing black clothing.
A crime alert was sent out at 12:14 a.m. due to a gun robbery at the corner of 16th and Luzon Avenue, NW. Police identified the suspects as four Black men wearing black clothing, two of which were armed with handguns.
A crime alert was sent out at 1:01 a.m. due to a robbery in the 3600 block of 14th Street, NW. One suspect was wearing a white shirt and a second was wearing a blue one.
A final crime alert was sent out at 2:03 a.m. due to a robbery investigation in the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue, NE. Police identified the suspects as two Black men, one wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, the other wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. One of the suspects was armed with a gun.
Three fatal shootings happened on Saturday, Aug. 7. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has made an arrest in connection with one of them.
At about 1:45 a.m. police responded to the 600 block of 53rd Street, SW, due to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, police located 20-year-old Juwaun Williams and transported them to a local hospital. Two other adult male victims were taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the press release.
At approximately 4:29 p.m. police responded to the 3000 block of Nelson Place, SE, due to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, police located 20-year-old Kendall Brown and transported her to a local hospital, where they were later pronounced dead, according to the press release.
Police arrested 22-year-old Amard Jefferson on Aug. 8 and charged him with second-degree murder while armed in relation to the homicide.
At about 6:17 p.m. police were flagged down in the 200 block of 49th Street, SE. Upon arrival, police found 69-year-oldJames Beckham in a vehicle and pronounced him dead on scene, according to a press release.
Update as of 4:55 p.m. on Aug. 9. MPD Chief Robert J. Contee III spoke to the public about the homicides during a press conference on Aug. 9. “These cases really underscore again the violence we have seen recently in our city,” he said. “It’s consistent with what we have seen in a national landscape with respect to gun violence in our communities.”
D.C. Witness’ Editor in Chief LaTrina Antoine spoke with Fox 5 DC reporter Sierra Fox about the nonprofit organization’s data on violence interruption programs in the city.
A DC Superior Court judge released four domestic violence defendants during presentments on Aug. 6.
In total, 24 total defendants were presented before the court.
The charges for the released defendants included simple assault, second-degree theft and attempted unauthorized use of a vehicle. One defendant who was previously charged with simple assault returned to court on a bench warrant due to failure to appear for a status hearing.
Judge Judith Pipe issued stay away orders for two of the released defendants. The released defendants are scheduled to return to court on Aug. 27 and Nov. 12.
As gun-related deaths rise in Washington, DC, the need for data on these heinous crimes is more important than ever. BBC’s Cut the Noise sat down with D.C. Witness’s Editor in Chief LaTrina Antoine to discuss the rise in gun violence and the gun culture that surrounds it.
On Aug. 6, a DC Superior Court judge decided that a sex abuse defendant should remain in jail, but gave the defense time to look for appropriate possible release conditions before they reconvene for another hearing in five days.
The 30-year-old defendant is charged with first-degree child sex abuse. He is accused of abusing a young girl on multiple occasions in what the prosecution alleges to be “an escalating pattern of abuse.” According to court documents, the defendant allegedly confessed to the abuse via text messages to a member of the victim’s family.
The defendant has been held at DC Jail since he picked up the case in late June. He previously waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which is meant to determine if a case has enough evidence to go to trial.
Defense attorney Rachel McCoy argued that her client should be released with a stay away order from the victim. She said the defendant’s alleged abuse was based on the specific nature of his relationship with the victim, which she argues indicates he would not pose a danger to other children. McCoy also noted that the defendant has no prior criminal record.
However, the prosecution maintained that the defendant would pose a significant danger to children in the community if released. They also argued that there was no guarantee the defendant would not commit crimes while on pretrial release.
Judge Kravitz said GPS monitoring could assist the court in making sure the defendant complied with a stay away order. However, he raised concerns over the lack of information about where the defendant would stay if he were released, including if there are children living in that location or if it is near a school.
Judge Kravitz continued the hearing to Aug. 11 so the defense could look into appropriate possible release conditions.
My time at D.C. Witness was so valuable and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the team. I can’t express my gratitude enough for the chance to grow my journalistic skills, be able to learn how to incorporate data and legal terms into my articles in an accurate way, acquire teamwork skills in a professional environment, and also receive a quality mentorship.
To start with my journalism skills, I came into my program at DC having spent over a year away from journalism classes and I was very apprehensive about getting back into writing. However, the opportunity to write articles on a weekly basis both by myself and with other writers, was both inspiring and allowed me to receive necessary constructive feedback to get back into a place where I was more comfortable with my writing again. Additionally, I got to accumulate quite a bit of material for my portfolio and that was so valuable in terms of allowing me to get hired in the future.
Not only did I get experience writing, but I was able to have an in-depth understanding of writing within data and the court system. I had never written anything on trials and it was extremely useful to be able to understand those terms and apply them to my pieces. Also, while my math skills were reasonable prior to this internship, I was able to develop how I was able to interpret data and I’m very happy that I have been able to do something like this prior to professional world experience.
Being a part of the data team was also very beneficial. I really enjoyed the challenge of collaborating and working with complex and incomplete data with the violence interrupters. Getting to participate on the violence interrupter project and write other articles was truly the best of both worlds and I loved getting to do two different things on a weekly basis.
Finally, I can’t thank D.C. Witness enough for the mentorship and guidance I received. Getting to work with Trina and Amos was so special, because I felt very invested in and I felt that what I was doing was contributing to the internship. It’s a unique aspect of D.C. Witness that interns are actually valuable to the team and that I received legitimate news experience. Thank you so much for everything again!
Twenty-one homicides happened in DC during the month of July, an approximately 10.5 percent increase from June.
Shootings were the main cause of death for all but one of the victims, according to D.C. Witness data.
Wards 5, 6 and 7 had an increase in homicides. Wards 5 and 7 had two more homicides in July than in June. Ward 6 had one more.
Ward 7, specifically, had six homicides – more than anywhere else.
Among the homicide victims killed in Ward 7 was 24-year-old Virginia resident Muntsier Sharfi.
According to a press release, Fire and EMS personnel from Prince Georges County, Md. responded to the 3300 block of Southern Avenue, SE, for the report of an overturned vehicle. They found Sharfi in a vehicle, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead on scene. Detectives determined that the homicide happened on the 3300 block of Erie Street, SE.
Ward 8 had five homicides in July, which was the same number of homicides recorded in June, May, March and February, data shows.
The youngest victim to die from gun violence was 6-year-old Nyiah Courtney on July 16 in Ward 8.
Police say they responded to the corner of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE, shortly after 11 p.m. due to a shooting that D.C. Witness previously reported. Officers found Courtney injured on the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
“The prayers of the community have been answered,“ he said. “I’m here to announce today that we’ve got our man.”
Marktwan Hargraves, a 22-year-old Maryland resident, has been charged with second-degree murder while armed in Courtney’s death. He is currently being held at DC Jail, and is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 18.
There was one vehicular homicide victim in July, 20-year-old Jamya Williams, who was killed by a hit-and-run at the intersection of 14th and K Street, NW.
According to a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) press release, during the early hours of July 3, an Acura TLX was traveling at a high rate of speed when it proceeded through the intersection, despite the red light, and collided with a Hyundai Elantra that Williams was operating. Williams died from her injuries the next day.
The driver and passenger of the Acura fled on foot, police say.
The police later released a video of the person and vehicle of interest.
A DC Superior Court judge denied a defense motion to reconsider re-opening a previous preliminary hearing that was held earlier this year to determine if a murder case has enough evidence to go to trial.
Nelfy Hernandez, 17, Deandre Levy, 20, and Trey Prillerman, 17, are charged with first-degree murder while armed in the death of 17-year-old Taijhon Wyatt, Jr. on the 5500 block of 9th Street, NW, on Aug. 10, 2020. The three are accused of shooting into a crowd of juveniles from inside of a vehicle.
The defense wanted to re-open the preliminary hearing so they could call a detective who did not testify when the hearing was held back in March.
Judge Danya Dayson denied this request in favor of moving towards setting a trial date. She cited a limit in courtroom availability.
Judge Dayson did grant the defense’s request to receive surveillance footage of the defendants from the night of the homicide. The defense is able to share the transcripts of the videos with their clients, but the defendants are not able to view the video itself.
A felony status conference for the three defendants is scheduled for Oct. 1.
On Aug. 5, 25 defendants were brought before DC Superior Court for presentments. Among them were three domestic violence defendants: two who were released and one who was held.
The held domestic violence defendant is charged with simple assault and attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, as well as violating a Civil Protection Order. Judge Renee Raymond scheduled him to return to court on Aug. 24.
Both of the released domestic violence defendants released are charged with simple assault. Judge Raymond gave one of them a stay away order and the other a No Harass, Assault, Threaten or Stalk order. They are scheduled to return to court on Nov. 10.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) sent out two crime alerts between 9:00 p.m. on Aug. 5 and 9:00 a.m. on Aug. 6.
A crime alert was sent out at 11:30 p.m. due to a robbery in the 200 block of Florida Avenue, NW. Police identified the suspects as two Black males, both with a slim build. One was wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt and the other wearing a red sweatshirt and armed with a handgun.
A second crime alert was sent out at 1:09 a.m. due to a robbery investigation in the 4200 block of East Capitol Street NE. Police identified the suspects as two Black males. One was wearing a white shirt with black sweatpants and armed with a handgun. The second was wearing a black ski mask and jeans.
