The Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating a fatal shooting that occurred on March 19 in the Petworth neighborhood in Ward 4.
According to a press release, officers found 26 year-old Dwight Banks suffering from multiple gunshot wounds Sunday night. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed from his injuries.
Police have not identified a suspect at this time. Police did not reveal a motive.
Up to a $25,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction for this case or any other homicide in DC. Anyone with information should call 202-727-9099. Anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.
According to D.C. Witness data, Banks’ homicide is the 150th homicide in DC in 2018, nearly a 32 percent increase from this same time last year.
On Nov. 16, a judge sentenced a convicted murderer to 25 years in prison and 5 years of supervised release.
Kevin Smith pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder while armed for shooting Valerie Coleman on Dec. 2, 2017, on the 1700 block of 16th Street, SE.
DC Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna said she sentenced Smith to 25 years because of the cold and deliberate nature of the murder.
According to court documents, Smith, 47, apparently killed Coleman, 55, because he believed his girlfriend, who was Coleman’s youngest daughter, was cheating on him.
“I don’t have a mom no more,” Coleman’s oldest daughter told the judge during her impact statement. The youngest daughter did not go to the sentencing.
During a felony arraignment Nov. 16, the prosecution extended a plea offer to a murder defendant involved in a stabbing.
Jose Luzunarisis charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing 56-year-old Gregory Monroe on Feb. 3 at the Judiciary House Apartments on the 400 block of H Street, NW.
The prosecution offered Luzunaris a plea deal for second-degree murder. The offer is set to expire on Nov. 30.
According to court documents, surveillance footage shows Luzunaris, 53, entered the apartment building early that morning. Shortly after, the defendant was seen walking towards the victim’s door.
A status hearing is scheduled on Nov. 30. Continue following D.C. Witness for updates on the case.
During a presentment Nov. 15, a DC Magistrate judge found probable cause that a 26-year-old man was involved in an October homicide. Defense counsel argued the man acted in self-defense.
Tondrick Murphy is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 26-year-old Marquis Jones on the 2000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department arrested Murphy on Nov. 14.
Murphy’s lawyer said Jones initiated a physical altercation with his client prior to the shooting. The attorney also said Murphy and Jones were armed on the night of the murder.
Furthermore, the attorney said Jones moved his hand in a “threatening” manner moments before the shooting, which provoked Murphy to shoot.
The prosecution refuted the self-defense claim, saying Jones was merely scratching his head.
Subsequently, Judge Errol Arthur found probable cause, acknowledging that Jones was responsible for starting a fight prior to the murder. The judge also said the fight clearly establishes a motive.
Judge Arthur ordered the defendant held without bond, citing Murphy’s criminal history and his failure to comply with the terms of his supervised release for a 2009 burglary conviction in Prince George’s County, Md.
Murphy is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 29.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Nov. 15 D’Angelo Davis in connection with the murder of a 37 year old in Southeast DC.
Davis, 38, is charged with first-degree murder while armed. He allegedly shot 37 year-old Michael Miller on the 1600 block of Minnesota Avenue, SE on July 21. Miller died on the scene.
During a preliminary hearing Nov. 15, a detective said no one could identify who stabbed a teen in NOMA in May.
Demonte Hewitt and Kurt Hewitt are charged with second-degree murder while armed for their alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Tyshon Perry on the 1300 block of 2nd Street, NE, which is located near the NOMA-Gallaudet metro station. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the suspects are cousins.
Demonte, 16, and Kurt,18, are both being charged as adults.
“We keep talking about the word involved … but nowhere in the four corners of the affidavit does it say Demonte Hewitt physically assaulted the decedent, correct?” Demonte’s attorney, James King, asked.
The detective agreed and said a Snapchat video implicated the cousins because they were part of the group of people involved in the stabbing. However, the detective said authorities have not verified if the video was actually taken on the day of the murder.
According to court documents, the victim was a friend of a male student who got into a confrontation with a female student earlier that day at KIPP DC College Preparatory, a charter high school in Northeast DC. The female student allegedly told the male student that she was going to “‘bring her hood boys to the school to fight [him].’”
When the male student, victim, who was also a student at the school, and their friends were walking to the metro station to go home, they apparently ran into the female student, but at that time, she was with four other boys who did not attend Kipp. A fight broke out between the groups.
The defense was not able to conclude arguments on Thursday, so DC Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe continued the preliminary hearing until Dec. 3 due to a previously scheduled trial.
On Nov. 13, nearly an hour after opening arguments for a murder trial were scheduled to begin, a DC Superior Court judge notified the jury that a trial wouldn’t begin until next year because one of the prosecutors had a “severe family emergency.”
Terik McLeod is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Devaun Drayton and Carlton Fisher on the 700 block of 26th Street, NE and on the 1100 block of 21st Street, NE, respectively. Fisher, who was killed in 2006, was apparently a witness to Drayton’s homicide in 2004.
According to the prosecution, another attorney wouldn’t be prepared to take on the case on such short notice. As a result, Judge Ronna Beck scheduled the trial to resume on March 25, 2019.
McLeod’s defense attorneys, Bruce Cooper and Michael Madden, requested their client be released because of the delay. According to the defense, McLeod would be detained for nearly two years by the time of the new trial date.
Judge Beck denied the defense’s request because of McLeod’s prior firearm convictions and because he is an “extreme risk” to public safety.
During closing arguments in a murder trial, the defense demanded that the jury disregard statements that said a murder defendant was the shooter.
Kenneth Adams is charged with first-degree murder while armed, obstruction of justice and other firearms offenses for allegedly shooting 21-year-old Dante “Te” Kinard on the 1800 block of Benning Road, NE in 2016. According to court documents, Adams,20, walked toward a group of people on Benning Road, pulled out a gun and started shooting. Kinard was not the intended target in the shooting.
Adams’ defense attorney, Nikki Lotze, said the two witnesses, who identified Adams during trial, should not be trusted. She said one witness admitted to only being about 80-85 percent sure about her identification.
“[She] said it was so dark that it looked like people were wearing masks,” Lotze told the jury. “Everything was black.”
Another witness told police, days after the shooting, that he did not know who shot Kinard. Lotze said the witness changed his story because he made a deal with the prosecution.
The prosecution denied making a deal with the witness. The prosecution also said the witness did not initially identify Adams as the shooter because he was afraid Adams “was still on the street.”
Other witnesses, who initially identified Adams as the shooter, told the jury that police coerced them into making the identification.
The Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating a fatal shooting that occurred on the of 800 block of Florida Avenue, NW, inside the U Street corridor, on Nov. 14.
According to a press release, police found 26 year-old Javon Smith suffering from gunshot wounds on the 2100 block of 8th Street, Northwest. He died at a hospital hours later on Nov. 15.
Police are requesting information that can lead to an arrest and conviction. A reward of up to $25,000 may be provided. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.
During a trial readiness hearing Nov. 14, defense counsel told the court that a medical report said a mother was “not responsible” for the 2013 homicide of her son.
Lillian Alvarado is charged with first-degree murder and child cruelty in connection to the death of her newborn son, who was found dismembered in an apartment bathtub on the 6400 block of 14th Street, NW.
In the report, a medical professional from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s psychiatric hospital, said Alvarado, 26, was not conscious of her actions.
As a result, the prosecution offered a plea agreement, which would allow Alvarado to plead guilty by reason of insanity to second-degree murder. However, the defense objected to the details of the plea, which contradicted the report’s findings, because second-degree murder implies Alvarado was conscious of her actions.
According to court documents, the infant was discovered after neighbors in the apartment below reported bloody water leaking from their ceiling. During the investigation, police found the infant’s legs in a toilet.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported that the newborn did not display birth defects that contributed to his death. Instead, the medical examiner said liquid was found in the infant’s lungs and there were visible signs of asphyxiation including “red purple markings” on the front and back of the infant’s neck.
Washington, DC does not have any federal prisons. Instead, felons of crimes in the District of Columbia are transferred to other states to carry out their sentences. The following article tracks where convicts are sent and whether their placement abides by policy guidelines enacted by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a branch within the DOJ, there is a guideline in the Inmate Security Designation and Custody Classification Program Statement that states that convicts should be placed in prisons that are “reasonably close,” or 500 miles, to their release area; in this case Washington, DC.
From January 2015 to August 2018, 115 felons were sentenced for charges connected to DC homicides, according to D.C.Witness data.
The BOP reports that 101 of those convicts have been placed at a prison facility or residential reentry center in the United States.
Of that number, more than half are imprisoned inside the 500-mile radius at facilities in West Virginia (48 inmates), Pennsylvania (11 inmates) and North Carolina (7 inmates), including:
The hash marks note where DC convicted felons are being held. DC’s 500-mile radius is identified in purple. Illustration by Thamar Bailey; Map Copyright @ Freevectormaps.com
Other District of Columbia convicts, who are also placed within the 500-mile radius, reside at facilities, including:
Although the BOP said it attempts to abide by the 500-mile guideline, it’s not unusual for a convict to be sent further away for various factors, including: security, population, programming and medical needs.
Convicts from DC, who are placed outside the 500-mile radius, are located at the following facilities:
Of the 14 remaining felons, who are not being held at one of the facilities listed above, one died serving her sentence, one is serving his sentence at an unidentified juvenile facility, four were released from prison and eight are “Not in BOP Custody.”
While “Not in BOP Custody” is vague in nature, the BOP explained the designation could mean the felon completed the sentence and was released, the felon is in the custody of the DC Jail, the custody of the felon was permanently or temporarily transferred to another agency or the felon is not in BOP custody for purposes related to appearing in court.
According to DC Courts, the eight felons who are “Not in BOP Custody” have not fulfilled their sentences.
D.C. Witness contacted the U.S. Marshals Service and the DC Jail in search of the eight felons who are “Not in BOP Custody.” As of Nov. 14, D.C. Witness has not received any information on where they are being held.
Editor’s Note: Over the course of the next few months, D.C. Witness will release a series of data-based articles concerning the judicial process for murder defendants in the District of Columbia dating back to January 2015.
LaTrina Antoine, Will Lennon and Shams Sohani contributed to this article.
During closing statements Nov. 13, the prosecution addressed why witnesses, in a murder trial, changed their stories on the stand.
Kenneth Adams is charged with first-degree murder while armed, obstruction of justice and other firearms offenses for allegedly shooting 21-year-old Dante “Te” Kinard on the 1800 block of Benning Road, NE in 2016.
According to the prosecution, some witnesses acted in “self-preservation” when they made inconsistent statements to the jury about what they saw on the night of the shooting. The prosecution emphasized that the witnesses changed their testimonies because they didn’t want to be labeled as “hot” or a “snitch”.
In an additional attempt to prove Adams’ guilt, the prosecution also referenced a witness who identified Adams as the shooter. He “summoned the courage and pointed [his] finger” at Adams, the prosecutor said during closing arguments.
According to the prosecution, Adams, 20, walked toward a group of people on Benning Road and pulled out a gun and started shooting. Apparently, Adams was acting in part to an ongoing feud between the Langston and 21st and I Street neighborhoods. Kinard was not the intended target in the shooting.
The defense is scheduled to make their closing arguments on Nov. 14.
Over the last week, from Nov. 5-11, the Metropolitan Police Department reported four homicides and two arrests for homicides in Washington, DC.
According to D.C. Witness data, there have been 148 homicides in the city, a 35.5 percent increase from the 110 homicides reported at the same time last year.
On Nov. 9, police arrested Dale Thomas and charged him with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing 38 year-old Jelani Mohammed on the 1500 block of Benning Road, NE the day before.
Thomas, 28, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 19.
On Nov. 7, Eugene Johnson,37, was fatally shot on the Unit block of Galveston Place, SW. Police have not arrested a suspect in the case.
The day before, Gibril Turner, 22, fatally shot on the 3900 block of Southern Avenue, SE on Nov. 6. Police have not arrested a suspect(s) in the homicide, either.
On Nov. 5, 26-year-old Dewayne Weaver, was found fatally shot on the 300 block of 50th Street, NE. There have not been any arrests in the case.
On Nov. 5, police arrested and charged 19-year-old Mark Anthony Fletcher, III with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting Travis Barksdale, 25, on the 600 block of Evarts Street, NE in August.
A judge found Nov. 9 probable cause that a man fatally stabbed a woman while she jogged near her home in Northwest DC.
Anthony Crawford is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing 35-year-old Wendy Karina Martinez as she jogged, during the evening, near her home in Logan Circle. The stabbing occurred on the 1400 block of 11th Street, NW on Sept. 18.
District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe denied the defense’s request to release Crawford, 23, on personal recognizance or to the care of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s psychiatric hospital. Crawford, who has not entered a plea, is being held without bond at DC Jail.
A homicide detective testified that Crawford’s DNA was found on a yellow sweater, an umbrella, a trail of blood left at the scene and the blade and handle of a knife that was allegedly stolen minutes before the attack.
According to WTOP, Crawford suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Apparently, family members told detectives that he had not been taking his medication at the time of the murder.
According to court documents, Crawford allegedly stabbed Martinez seven times, including in her head and neck. She was able to stumble into a nearby Chinese restaurant for help, but later died from her injuries at the hospital.
