Attorney in 2020 Murder Case Files Release Request Based on Speedy Trial Rights

A murder defendant’s lawyer requested her client’s release because she said his speedy trial rights are being violated.

Jacobi Williams, 35, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting of 38-year-old Phillip Roache. Roache was found unconscious with 10 gunshot wounds on the 7000 block of Blair Road, NW, on Sept. 17, 2020.

Defense attorney Marnitta King made an oral release request during the Jan. 24 hearing. She said Williams has a right to a speedy trial yet has been held since he picked up the case in October 2020. King also requested the case’s dismissal on the same reasoning.

The prosecutor was opposed to both requests. He noted that the defendant has a felony charge in Maryland.

Judge Robert Okun denied both requests, citing the same factors as the prosecutor. He scheduled another hearing for March 3.

Deadline for Plea Offer Extended in Child Sex Abuse Case

A prosecutor extended the deadline for a plea offer in a child sex abuse case.

The defendant is accused of molesting two girls less than 14-years-old over multiple years. One of the children is his godchild. He allegedly admitted to touching the victims but said he doesn’t know what happened, according to court documents.

On March 28, 2021, the 51-year-old defendant was charged with second-degree child sex abuse and released on his promise to return to court.

The plea offer in this case was set to expire on the day of the Jan. 24 hearing, the prosecutor said. She agreed to continue it until the next hearing so defense attorney Rachel Cicurel can have more time to speak with her client.

The defendant’s appearance was waived for this hearing. Parties are slated to reconvene on Feb. 15.

Judge Sentences Man to Prison for 2015 Traffic Fatality

On July 19, 2015, two men were intoxicated and street racing at more than 100 MPH down 16th Street, NW. One of the drivers was 34-year-old Rasheed Murray. He lost control of his car and it landed on 24-year-old Matthew Roth’s vehicle. Roth was brought to a local hospital where he was pronounced braindead. Two days later, Roth was taken off life support and died.

Murray was charged with second-degree murder in relation to Roth’s death. In July 2018, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, driving while under the influence and reckless driving. More than 30 people attended the Jan. 21 sentencing to support Roth and give victim impact statements.

Roth’s father was one of them. “2,376 days later we are finally here,” he said, “let us get some justice.”

Roth’s father attended every hearing in this case. He said having to “wait over six years for closure is inhumane and everyone in this system should be ashamed of themselves.”

A constant in the victim impact statements was the desire for Judge Milton Lee to impose the highest possible sentence. Most of the speakers agreed that the maximum sentence allowed for the charges was not enough. They also focused on who Roth was as a person and how much they truly missed him.

The prosecutor asked Judge Lee to take all of these statements into account but did not ask for a specific sentence. The court took a brief recess so that Murray’s defense attorney, Mani Golzari, could speak with his client.

Two people spoke on Murray’s behalf. The first was his childhood friend who said that “over the past six years he (Murray) has been anguished not with pity for himself but empathy for the Roth family.”

The next to speak was Murray’s former defense attorney, Jeffrey Stein, who said Murray has been “devastated with grief over the past six years and has remained completely sober since the crash.”

Golzari told Judge Lee “that he has to tell Murray that he must forgive himself or he will not survive and Murray has refused to do that believing that to be selfish.” Golzari also said he did not believe incarceration was an appropriate sentence for this case.

Murray also spoke. Through his statement, Murray cried while apologizing to the Roth parents and promising to atone for his crimes.

Judge Lee made a statement once all was said and done. He told Murray he is, “better than this, and that while you know it now, the shame is that you did not know it then.”

He went on to say that he is a big believer in second chances, telling Murray that he will have a life after this, though Roth will never get that.

Before sentencing Murray, Judge Lee expressed that no one will be happy with the sentence but he chooses it to the best of his ability, taking into account both parties’ thoughts. He also took full responsibility for the case taking six years.

Judge Lee imposed a sentence for the charge of voluntary manslaughter of two-and-a-half years followed by five years of supervised release with mandatory traffic court. This as well as 100 hours of community service and a $200 fee. He also sentenced Murray to 90 days each for reckless driving and DUI. These sentences will run concurrently with his manslaughter sentence.

Document: 20-Year-Old Fatally Shot in Northeast, DC

Metropolitan Police Department detectives are investigating a homicide that took place on Jan. 21.

At approximately 8:36 p.m., officers responded to the 3800 block of Commodore Joshua Barney Drive, NE, for the report of a shooting, according to a press release. There, they found 20-year-old Marquette White suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Document: Double Homicide in Southwest, DC

Metropolitan Police Department detectives are investigating a homicide that occurred on Jan. 21.

At approximately 6:43 p.m., officers responded to the Unit block of Forrester Street, SW, for the report of the sound of gunshots, according to a press release. There, they found two men, 21-year-old Terrance Brown and 22-year-old Ezra Beyene, suffering from gunshot wounds in a vehicle. They were pronounced dead on scene.

Defendant in Fatal Shooting Case Accepts Plea Deal

Approximately three-and-a-half months after a man was fatally shot in Truxton Circle, the defendant charged in his death pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

During the late evening of Oct. 6, 2021, Metropolitan Police Department officers found Rufus Davis on the Unit block of O Street, NW, suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and back. He was 20-years-old.

Marcha Johnson was arrested one week later. He was originally charged with second-degree murder while armed. During a Jan. 21 hearing, the 43-year-old defendant pleaded down to voluntary manslaughter as part of a deal he made with the prosecution.

DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun scheduled Johnson to be sentenced on April 5.

Plea Offer in Fatal Hit-and-Run Case to Stay Open for Another Month

A man facing murder charges for his alleged role in a motor vehicle collision that killed two people received more time to consider a plea offer.

On May 31, 2020, Kyle Wooden allegedly ran a red light on Bryant Street, NW, and struck a Nissan Altima containing two occupants- 82-year-old Donald Malloy and 79-year-old Mattie Young. Both victims sustained life-threatening injuries and were pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to court documents.

After the collision, 34-year-old Wooden allegedly opened his trunk, grabbed some personal belongings and fled the scene. Multiple broken beer bottles were near the crash. Wooden turned himself in the following day, according to court documents. He is currently charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

The defense has until Feb. 21 to accept or reject the prosecution’s plea deal.

DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan continued the Jan. 21 hearing to March 8. In the meantime, Wooden will remain released under the High Intensity Supervision Program.

Judge Takes Child Sex Abuse Defendant Off GPS Monitoring

A DC Superior Court judge granted an attorney’s request to take a child sex abuse defendant off GPS monitoring.

The defendant is charged with two counts of second-degree child sex abuse in a domestic violence case for allegedly abusing two minors from 2012 through 2014. During his initial hearing on Sept. 1, 2021, a judge released him into the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) with GPS monitoring.

Defense attorney Leo Alley motioned to modify his client’s release conditions on Jan. 14. The prosecution did not oppose the request but raised concerns that he could flee the country or try to communicate with the victims in this case.

During a Jan. 20 hearing, Alley said the defendant has been in compliance with his pretrial release conditions while working as a painter in Virginia. Alley also noted his client’s lack of a criminal record.

In light of this, Judge Maribeth Raffinan removed the defendant from HISP and instructed him on how to turn in his GPS.

The defendant still must check in with the Pretrial Services Agency over the phone every other week. He is also not allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors.

Parties will return to court on Feb. 22 for a felony status conference. In the meantime, parties are engaged in plea negotiations.

Parties Hold Off Scheduling Murder Trial, Citing COVID’s Impact on Court Operations

Parties held off setting trial dates for a man charged with murder for his alleged role in a 2018 traffic fatality.

Roger Hamilton is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence and reckless driving in connection with a motor vehicle crash that killed 42-year-old pedestrian Vincent Childs. On March 2, 2018, the 41-year-old defendant allegedly drove northbound on Wheeler Road, SE, at a high rate of speed before mounting an east curb and hitting Childs. He then allegedly attempted to flee the scene, according to court documents.

During the Jan. 21 proceedings, DC Superior Court Judge Milton Lee expressed concern over setting a trial date, given the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on court operations. He said he was not completely convinced that the suspension of jury trials would end in February and wanted to play it safe.

On Dec. 30, 2021, Chief Judge Anita Josey-Herring issued an order that jury trials scheduled through Feb. 11 be continued to the earliest possible date after Feb. 11.

Judge Lee set a new status hearing for Feb. 18. Parties agreed to this as they plan to renegotiate a potential plea deal. In the meantime, Hamilton will remain on pretrial release.

Judge Schedules Preliminary Hearing for Triple Homicide Case One Day After New Arrest

Two days after police made their most recent arrest in connection with a mass shooting that killed three people last September, a DC Superior Court judge scheduled a preliminary hearing to determine if the case against the defendants has enough evidence to go to trial.

On the evening of Sept. 4, 2021, Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to the 600 block of Longfellow Street, NW, after hearing gunfire and found six people suffering from gunshot wounds. Three of the victims succumbed to their injuries- 31-year-old Donetta Dyson, 24-year-old Keenan Braxton and 37-year-old Johnny Joyner.

Two days after the triple homicide, a vehicle matching the description of the one believed to have been used in the shooting was set on fire, according to court documents.

Damonta Thompson, 24, was arrested two days before the Jan. 20 hearing. He is charged with first-degree murder while armed along with 24-year-old Kamar Queen and 27-year-old Erwin Dubose. Toyia Johnson, 49, is also charged with tampering with physical evidence.

The prosecution told Judge Robert Okun they don’t anticipate needing more than an hour or two to present their case, saying they only have ten short clips to show.

Parties agreed to set aside March 18 for the proceedings.

Document: Suspect Arrested in Fatal Shooting

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a homicide in Northwest, DC.

At approximately 8:52 p.m. on Jan. 10, officers responded to the scene for the sound of gunshots, according to a press release. They found 33-year-old Jerrame Watts seated in a vehicle at 13^th and Irving Street NW, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

On Jan. 20, 21-year-old Darnell Crawford was arrested for second-degree murder while armed.

Judge Releases Defendant Due to DC Jail’s Inability To Treat His Injuries

A sex abuse defendant was released after a DC Superior Court judge decided that his injuries were too complicated for the DC Jail to handle.

The defendant’s leg injury first occurred on approximately Sept. 1, 2021, at the DC Jail, where he was held after being arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a child. Parties discussed the issue during at least four hearings since the initial injury before they convened again on Jan. 20.

The defendant has been arraigned on his indictment and scheduled for trial since the injury first occurred. He is now charged with two counts of first-degree child sex abuse and one count of second-degree child sex abuse but rejected a plea offer for a lesser charge in January. The trial is set to commence in June.

Eric Glover is the General Counsel for the Department of Corrections (DOC). He gave information on the defendant’s medical situation, explaining that the defendant had received an MRI. This showed that while the defendant may not need surgery, the injury has not gotten healed and rehabilitation is required.

In response, defense attorneys Jacqueline Cadman and Leo Alley requested their client’s release because it had been five months since his initial injury, yet he had not received full medical treatment. The defendant had been given crutches months before.

Judge Milton Lee said from watching him come in and out of the courtroom, it was “obvious” the defendant did not know how to use them.

Judge Lee noted that on two separate occasions the DC Jail had said the defendant was on quarantine due to either a positive COVID test or an exposure to someone who did. One of these occasions led to the defendant missing a doctor’s appointment for his injury.

It was later found that this was a mistake the Department of Corrections had made. The defendant had not been in quarantine either time. They had also made a second mistake. The defendant had fallen when being transported. In order to help assist the defendant, one of the DOC officers took his medical paperwork from him. The officer had then misplaced the documents and as far as the court knows, they are gone.

Judge Lee said he was incredibly disappointed and frustrated by the jail’s handling of the defendant’s medical issues. He said if anyone in the general public had the same injury, they would not have to wait months to seek help as the defendant did and that he was concerned about the “absence of response to an injury.”

“The jail just did not believe he was injured,” Judge Lee said.

The prosecution had questions based on a previous determination that the defendant was too dangerous to be released. They said that in the preliminary hearing the defendant was found too dangerous to be released and was supposed to stay at DC Jail.

“I am ruling now that he is no longer a danger,” Judge Lee said, explaining that the defendant’s injury directly affects the danger he presents to the community. He also said that after the jail made mistakes with the defendant’s COVID test, he does not trust them to appropriately handle his medical issues.

The prosecution questioned if releasing the defendant would be safe since he would be released into the case of his mother, who allegedly knew about the allegations the children made about the defendant before his arrest but did nothing.

Judge Lee maintained that, because of his injury, he is not at the same level of dangerousness compared to before. He ordered that the defendant be released into the High Intensity Supervision Program under 24-hour home confinement.

It’s Not the Guns!

As 2021 wound down, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser sent out a public missive focusing, again, on illegal guns as the cause of D.C.’s ever-rising homicide rate.

For the last six years D.C. Witness has been tracking every homicide in D.C. and we have pointed out, and will likely have to again, that pointing to guns is too simplistic.

We could once more point to the data that the most prevalent motivation to kill someone in D.C. is petty disputes. We could point to the fact that illegal guns are readily and legally available JUST across the bridge in Virginia (and become illegal only once they cross into the city), so even removing them all would just create a new vibrant market. We could point to the average age of victims and alleged perpetrators as being in their late 20’s, which shows this is something more than a “youth issue.”

But there is one statistic from 2021 that is perhaps most disturbing of all, that reinforces guns are a symptom, not the cause.

In 2021, stabbing deaths in DC doubled from 14 the year before to 27. This is something that presents a new frightening trend.

What is significant is that stabbing is a different level of violence. It is personal and physical, and not done at a distance with minimal pressure applied by a finger.

Rather than guns as the cause of all the killing, it points to a culture of violence that the data suggests is becoming the new normal in our city.

So yes, getting rid of the illegal guns would definitely be good but it is too facile to say it is just the guns. And it ignores a trend that needs to be addressed now rather than when it is the stuff of press conferences, or other Mayoral emails.

Judge Reschedules Murder Trial to Begin Sooner

Parties in a murder case agreed to reschedule the defendants’ trial to begin approximately one month earlier.

Co-defendants Tony Morgan and Martinez Raynor are accused of traveling to a holiday market on the 3500 block of Wheeler Road, SE, in a stolen SUV and opening fire on Oct. 20, 2018. Malik McCloud, 19, was killed in the shooting.

Morgan, 28, was arrested on Dec. 5, 2019. Raynor, 22, was arrested five days later. Morgan is charged with first-degree murder while armed. Raynor is charged with felony murder while armed.

The two were previously set to go to trial on Aug. 8. But during a Jan. 20 hearing, DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan said she is scheduled to go on leave and won’t be available to preside over the trial at that time. Because of this, parties agreed to reschedule the trial to begin on July 6.

Parties are slated to reconvene on March 16 for a status hearing.

Attorneys for both defendants have filed emergency release motions citing the conditions of confinement at DC Jail. Judge Neal Kravitz, who was previously assigned to the case, will address these.

Morgan is also charged with conspiracy, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, assault with intent to kill while armed and unlawful possession of a firearm in this case.

Raynor is charged with conspiracy, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without license outside a home or business and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance while armed.

Document: Suspect Arrested in September Homicide

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a homicide that occurred on Sept. 18, 2021.

At approximately 9:20 p.m., officers responded to the 1300 block of Nicholson Street, NW, due to a report of a shooting victim. Officers located 17-year-old Brayan Villataro with gunshot wounds and pronounced him dead on scene, according to a press release.

Mussay Rezene was arrested for first-degree murder while armed on Jan. 19.

Rezene, 29, was also charged with felon in possession of a firearm pursuant to a United States District Court arrest warrant. This alleged offense is unrelated to the homicide. As well as this, Rezene was charged with failing to register as a gun offender pursuant to a DC Superior Court arrest warrant.

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