Doctors Testify About Murder Defendant’s Competency Over Four Years After Case First Opened

A psychiatrist and psychologist hired by the Public Defender Service (PDS) testified about a murder defendant’s likelihood of becoming competent to stand trial during a Jan. 8 hearing that comes more than four years after the case first opened.

Brandon Byrd is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing his father, 44-year-old Otis Byrd, in a parking garage by the Children’s Medical Center on Aug. 10, 2016.

Byrd, 25, was charged the next day. The following month, he took a forensic exam and was found incompetent to stand trial. He was sent to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s psychiatric institution, for competency restoration treatment. He has been there ever since.

During a hearing in October 2020, DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan ruled that the defendant was still incompetent following a report from the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH.)

However, the report said Byrd was likely to regain competency in the foreseeable future, something with which defense attorney Craig Hickein disagreed.

Judge Ryan gave Hicken four weeks to have another study done by their own psychologist. He also granted the prosecution’s request to have another study done by the DBH.

The defendant was found incompetent again on Dec. 18. More competency restoration treatment was ordered, and the most recent report the DBH was received on Jan. 7.

During the Jan. 8 hearing, the psychiatrist testified that he has asked Byrd competency questions, but did not conduct a full competency evaluation. He said the defendant seemed willing to speak with him and answered questions.

According to his testimony, Byrd knows he is charged with murder and that 30 years is a potential consequence of being convicted of that charge. Also, the psychologist confirmed in her testimony that Byrd discussed defense strategy and identified his lawyer.

The psychiatrist said Byrd’s symptoms have improved, but are still present and impairing him from being able to participate in his defense.

He also voiced ethical concerns with pursuing medical avenues that come with certain risks when the patient is being treated against their will.

Due to time constraints, the hearing was continued to Feb. 10.

Andrea Keckley wrote this article.

Murder Case Set for Trial Readiness Hearing

On Jan. 11, a DC Superior Court judge set a murder case for a trial readiness hearing.

Co-defendants Stephon Evans and Kewon Hunter are both indicted on charges of first-degree murder while armed, conspiracy while armed, posession of a firearm during a crime of violence and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business.

The two are charged in connection with the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Dion DeMarco Boyd on July 30, 2018, on the 1400 block of Maryland Avenue, NE.

Hunter’s defense attorney, Howard McEachern, said that plea discussions for his client broke down and options for a resolution without trial have been exhausted.

Evan’s defense attorney, Joseph Caleb, told Judge Juliet McKenna that it’s hard to say how he and his client can be expected to proceed in this case.

Parties agreed to set the case for a trial readiness hearing, which is scheduled for April 7.

Crime Alerts: January 10-11

Between 5:00 p.m. on Jan. 10 and 9:00 a.m. on Jan. 11, the Metropolitan Police Department sent out only one crime alert.

The alert was sent at 5:42 p.m. on Jan. 10 for a shooting on the 400 block of Marietta Place, NW. Police do not have a description of the suspect(s) thought to be involved in the offense.

Document: 17 Year-Old Killed in Northeast, DC

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is investigating a homicide that happened on the evening of Jan. 9.

At around 5:28 p.m. that day, officers responded to the Unit block of Florida Avenue, NE for the report of a shooting, according to a press release.

There, they found 17 year-old Omari Dunn inside an establishment suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Judge Hears 6 Domestic Violence Cases During Initial Hearings

On Jan. 8, DC Superior Court Judge Renee Raymond heard 19 cases during initial hearings, 6 of which were domestic violence cases.

Judge Raymond held a total of seven defendants during the hearings, and four of those defendants were charged with domestic violence offenses.

The first defendant held is charged with simple assault and destruction of property. The prosecution requested a hold, citing one of the alleged victims is a 4-year-old child.

It’s “incredibly disturbing is that he’s on supervised release for assault with significant bodily injury and threats to kidnap or injure a person,” Judge Raymond said.

The defendant will be held at DC Jail until his next hearing, which is scheduled for Jan. 26.

Another adult male defendant is also held on a simple assault charge.

Judge Raymond decided to hold the defendant since the alleged victim in this new case is the same alleged victim in another pending domestic violence case.

After yelling profanities at the judge’s decision, the defendant went off camera and got into a physical altercation with a correctional officer at the Central Cell Block (CCB).

Judge Raymond said she was supposed to serve the defendant with a Civil Protection Order (CPO), but that he would just have to get the paperwork in lieu of a verbal order).

The third defendant held is charged with contempt, simple assault and assault on a police officer. The defendant allegedly violated a CPO as well as a stay-away order, which was given to him in another pending domestic violence case that also involves the same alleged victim.

The final defendant that Judge Raymond decided to hold is charged with simple assault.

He was also brought in on another, non-domestic violence case in which he is charged with contempt and unlawful entry onto private property. Judge Raymond held the defendant given his increasing number of pending cases as well as the alleged conduct in his new domestic violence case.

The final two domestic violence defendants are charged with a bail violation and simple assault.

The defendant charged with violating bail was ordered to return to court and follow her existing pretrial release conditions. The second defendant was ordered to stay away from the victim as well as get a GPS monitoring device installed.

Judge Releases Domestic Violence Defendants During Initial Hearings

On Jan. 7, DC Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna heard 50 new cases, releasing all but four during initial hearings.

Of all 50 cases presented before the judge, only two defendants were charged in domestic violence cases.

The first domestic violence defendant is charged with simple assault and destruction of property.

The defendant, an adult male, was released by Judge McKenna with an order to stay-away from the alleged victim. He was also served with a Civil Protection Order (CPO) that also requires him to stay away from the same person involved in his new case.

The second defendant is also charged with simple assault and destruction of property. The defendant, also an adult male, was released with a stay-away order from the alleged victim.

Thirty of the 50 defendants are charged with misdemeanors in reference to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The majority of the defendants, 25, are charged with unlawful entry of public property for being within the Capitol grounds illegally as well as for disobeying Mayor Muriel Bowser’s curfew, which went into effect at 6 p.m. that evening.

The other five defendants are charged with carrying a pistol without a license, violation of an emergency order curfew, possession of a prohibited weapon and assault on a police officer. Almost all of the defendants are not DC residents and 27 were ordered to stay out of DC entirely until their cases are resolved.

The final 18 defendants, charged with various misdemeanors and felonies, were all released with various release conditions except for four, who will be held at DC Jail pending their next hearing.

Document: U.S. Capitol Police Officer Dies of Injuries Sustained During Capitol Storming

On the evening of Jan. 7, United States Capitol Police (USCP) Officer Brian D. Sicknick succumbed to injuries he sustained while responding to the storming of the U.S. Capitol the previous day.

Officer Sicknick was injured while physically engaging with protesters, according to a press release. He collapsed upon returning to his division, and was taken to a local hospital. He died at around 9:30 p.m.

He had been with the USPC since July of 2008. The department is asking the public that the privacy of his family, as well as other USCP officers and their families, be respected.

“The entire USCP Department expresses its deepest sympathies to Officer Sicknick’s family and friends on their loss, and mourns the loss of a friend and colleague,” the press release states.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) homicide branch as well as the USCP and their federal partners will be investigating his death.

Andrea Keckley wrote this article.

Crime Alerts: January 7-8

Between 7 p.m. on Jan. 7 and 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) sent out three crime alerts.

The most recent alert was sent at 1:24 a.m. for a shooting investigation on the 2300 block of Good Hope Road. Police are looking for a Black male, 5’10” in height, with a slim build weighing 160 pounds, wearing a black jacket, black mask and black pants. The suspect was last seen on the 1900 block of Good Hope Road.

Another shooting alert was sent at 11:54 p.m. on the 1300 block of Harvard Street, NW. Police do not have a description of the suspect(s) involved.

The final alert was sent at 9:36 p.m. for a shooting investigation on the 1300 block of Columbia Road, NW.

Defense in Murder Case Asks for Earliest Possible Hearing Date

A defense attorney asked for the earliest possible preliminary hearing date for a murder case due to apparent doubts over if it will be found to have enough evidence to go to trial.

Judge Gerald Fisher agreed to the request made by Ronald Resetartis, who said he does not normally make such requests. Judge Fisher scheduled the hearing for Feb. 19.

The defendant, 17-year-old Deon Walters, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the Oct. 1 shooting of 42-year-old Arthur Daniels IV on the 6200 block of 8th Street, NW.

Walters was charged as an adult. He is currently being held in the custody of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS,) where he has been since his presentment hearing on Dec. 19, 2020.

Three Fatal Medical Emergencies and One Shooting on Capitol Grounds

The three people who died from medical emergencies during the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 experienced those emergencies while on the grounds of the Capitol, Acting Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Robert J. Contee III said during a Jan. 7 situational update.

A woman was also fatally shot inside of the Capitol. The Washington Post identified her as 35-year-old Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt.

Chief Contee said on Wednesday that she was shot by a U.S. Capitol Police Officer.

Multiple people forced their way into the Capitol building and tried to gain access to the house room, which was still in session, he said. They were confronted by plain clothed U.S. Capitol Police officers, one of whom discharged their service weapon, striking the woman. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

“I’m upset that my police officers were put in harm’s way when they were just doing their jobs,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said during the next day’s situational update. “And I’m even upset that somebody died in that building who was breaking into the building. We should all be upset about all of those things.”

During the update, Chief Contee also took time to update the public on arrests made by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) related to the unrest.

Sixty-eight people were arrested during the evening of Jan. 6 into the early morning hours of Jan. 7, he said. Forty-one of those arrests happened on Capitol grounds and, to his knowledge, only one of those arrested was from DC. Sixty of those arrested were adult males and eight were adult females.

Andrea Keckley wrote this article

Document: Homicide in Northwest, DC

Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detectives are investigating a homicide that happened during the late hours of Jan. 6.

At around 11:34 p.m. that day, officers responded to the 1300 block of 9^th Street, NW for the report of a shooting.

There, they learned that the victim, 20 year-old Ibrahim Sesay, was seeking treatment at an area hospital for a gunshot wound. Sesay was ultimately pronounced dead.

Year in Review: Homicides Continue to Rise in DC

Washington, DC had 205 homicides in 2020. That’s about a 12 percent increase from the previous year, which saw 180.

The homicide count for 2020 is also higher than it was in 2018, 2017 or 2016.

One hundred and seventy-six of the victims were male, 29 were female.

Five of 2020’s homicides were domestic. Four of the victims in these homicides were female. Data shows that even though women were victims in 14 percent of the total homicides that took place in 2020, their deaths accounted for 80 percent of the total domestic homicides in the city.

The sole male domestic homicide victim was Cornell Mason, who was stabbed to death on the night of April 10 on the 4000 block of Clay Place, NE. Phillip Humphrey is charged with second-degree murder.

On July 9, a DC Superior Court judge ruled that Humphrey’s case had enough evidence to go to trial, but only on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. Ronald Resetarits, the defendants attorney, says his client acted in self-defense.

Humphrey was released into the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) in July. His next court hearing is scheduled for April 2.

Mason was 33 years-old. The average age of 2020’s homicide victims was 32. The average age was 30 in 2019.

The two oldest victims, Bobby Poole and Donald Malloy, were 81 years-old when they were killed.

According to a press release, Poole was the victim of an assault with the intent to commit robbery on March 29, 2020 on the 900 block of Eastern Avenue, NE. He succumbed to his injuries on May 6, 2020 and an autopsy determined the cause of death to be complications of a hematoma to the brain. Charges against 50-year-old Tyrone Williams were upgraded to first-degree murder – felony murder the following September.

Williams is being held at the DC Jail. His next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15.

Malloy was killed in an alleged hit and run offense between the intersection of Bryant Street and North Capitol Street, NE on May 31, 2020. Kyle Alexander Wooden, 32, was arrested for second-degree murder on June 1, 2020.

Woodend was released under the HISP program in June. His next court hearing is scheduled for March 29.

Malloy was one of five homicide victims killed by cars in 2020. A majority – about 86 percent – of the victims were killed by guns. That number was about 78 percent in 2019.

Similar to 2019, Ward 8 had the most homicides. In 2020, the ward had 60 homicides, about 29 percent of the District’s total. In 2019, there were 71 homicides, about 35 percent of the District’s total.

Article and video by Andrea Keckley

Crime Alerts: January 6-7

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) sent out five crime alerts between 12:00 p.m. on Jan. 6 and 9 a.m. on Jan. 7.

The first alert was sent at 1:01 p.m. for a stabbing on the 3900 block of 13th Street, SE. Police are looking for two Black males. The first suspect is wearing all black clothing with a silver/grey mask. The second suspect is wearing all black clothing and a black mask.

An alert was sent at 5:09 p.m. for a shooting on the 1300 block of Congress Street, SE. Police are looking for a Black male, last seen riding an orange ride share bike.

An alert was sent at 5:39 p.m. for a shooting investigation on the 200 block of K Street, NW. A suspect was stopped by the police.

A stabbing investigation was reported at 6:11 p.m. at the intersection of 12th Street, NW and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Police do not have information about a suspect at this time.

The final alert was sent at 12:08 a.m. for a shooting investigation on the 1300 block of 9th Street, NW. Police are looking for five suspects in a vehicle.

One Felony Arraignment, Two Preliminary Hearings Scheduled for Murder Cases

Three murder cases will proceed with litigation as DC Superior Court judges scheduled them for additional hearings on Jan. 6.

Judge Yvonne Williams scheduled a felony arraignment for a defendant accused of killing a disabled woman.

Vaughn Kosh is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Alayna Howard on Dec. 7, 2019, on the 1700 block of Capitol Avenue, NE.

According to court documents, the victim was on dialysis and had one leg, causing her to need assistance getting to and from her apartment.

Last month, the 49-year-old defendant was indicted on charges of first-degree murder while armed with victim who was especially vulnerable due to age or physical infirmity, unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction, possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, first-degree burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with intent to kill while armed.

Kosh’s next court date is scheduled for April 26.

Two other murder defendants were also scheduled for hearings to determine if their cases have enough evidence to go to trial.

Ernest Cleveland, 27, is charged with second-degree murder while armed in the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Edward Pearson on Nov. 26, 2020 on the 2900 block of Connecticut Avenue, NW.

Defense attorney Madalyn Harvey reported that they have not received a plea offer and asked that the prosecution consider extending one.

Judge Gerald Fisher scheduled Cleveland’s preliminary hearing for Feb. 12.

Cleveland is also charged with assault with intent to kill while armed in this case.

Kevin Goggins, a 20-year-old charged with first-degree murder while armed in the death of Yisa Jeffcoat, is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing on Feb. 5.

Jeffcoat was 28-years-old when he was fatally shot on Oct. 9, 2020, on the 1600 block of W Street, SE.

Judge Hears 3 Domestic Violence Cases Out of 17 During Initial Hearings

On Jan. 6, DC Superior Court Judge Renee Raymond heard three cases that involved domestic violence out of 15 total cases during initial hearings.

Of the three domestic violence cases all were released.

One of the domestic violence defendants is charged with aggravated assault while armed. The defendant allegedly pulled a gun on a victim and shot him once, but defense counsel argued that it was in self defense as the victim pulled a gun on him first.

In the end, Judge Raymond agreed that there is a case for self defense and released the defendant under the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) with GPS monitoring and an order to stay away from the victim.

The second defendant is charged with simple assault and destruction of property, and he was released with a stay-away order as well as an order not to possess any firearms or ammunition in DC while the case is ongoing.

The final defendant is charged with simple assault, destruction of property and attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, which was a knife. The defendant was released with an order to get a GPS monitoring device installed and an order to not possess firearms or ammunition in DC.

Overall, Judge Raymond released 14 defendants and held three defendants at DC Jail, pending their next hearings.

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