A District of Columbia Superior Court judge rescheduled Oct. 23 a preliminary hearing for a murder defendant accused of beating a child to death. This is the sixth time the hearing has been rescheduled since June, according to DC Courts.
Brian Wooden is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 1-year-old son, Carter Sanders, on the 4700 block of Benning Road, SE on May 16. Wooden, 28, is being held without bond.
Judge Milton Lee rescheduled the hearing to Nov. 26. The hearing was continued to give the defense more time to review evidence and consider a pending plea deal. The pending plea deal would reduce Wooden’s charge to second-degree murder.
Court documents state that the boy’s injuries included a fractured skull, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver. Wooden was apparently caring for the boy at the time of the murder.
On Oct. 22, the defense questioned the reliability of an eyewitness’s observation.
The defendant, Anthony Waters is charged with first-degree murder while armed and related gun charges for allegedly shooting 37-year-old Derrick Harris on the 2600 block of Birney Place, SE.
According to court documents, an eyewitness saw the murder from a bedroom window. But, pictures, which were shown to the jury, showed trees blocking the view of where Harris was murdered outside of the apartment building.
A detective on the case told the jury that another witness said Waters, 51, who was also known as Reds, and Harris, who was also known as Fats, got into an argument because Harris “snitched” on a close friend of Waters in a 1988 murder trial, causing the friend a life sentence.
The detective also said the witness told him that “Reds came through the cut and shot Fats.” It is unknown whether the witness actually saw the homicide or heard about it from someone else.
During closing arguments in a murder trial, the prosecution argued that even without DNA their case has “overwhelming” evidence that a defendant fatally struck a 65-year-old woman with his car.
David Jones is charged with second-degree murder and driving under the influence for the death of Carolyn Ellis at the intersection of 10th and U Street, NW in 2017. According to court documents, a witness told police Ellis’ body was thrown 8-to-10 feet in the air before hitting a parked car and landing on the street.
Jones, 38, is also charged with reckless driving and leaving after colliding.
The prosecution said a Metropolitan Police Department officer saw a black man with dreadlocks, which matches Jones’ description, speeding in a black car in the vicinity of the crime scene on the night of the murder.
Surveillance video captured a dark-colored car run a red light and turn onto U Street, fatally striking Ellis, who was crossing the street.
Shortly after, the officer saw the same car on 14th Street, NW, a short distance from the crash. Police discovered an opened Heineken bottle in the front passenger’s seat. During the investigation, officers also found part of a watch strap on the driver’s seat, according to the lead detective’s testimony.
An expert witness said the car also displayed damage to the exterior that was consistent with the fatality.
When police located Jones a short distance away, he was holding the keys to the black car and a broken watch that matched the strap found in the car. An officer on the scene deemed Jones intoxicated and testified that Jones smelled of alcohol and, at times, couldn’t stand up.
Jones’ defense attorney, Antoini Jones, argued that regardless of who the driver was, the fatality was an accident and that Ellis may have played a role in her own death.
Apparently, Ellis did not have the right of way and chose to cross the street “against the light.” Furthermore, the defense noted that Ellis was wearing all black and that the incident occurred at night. The defense also said that the other individual who was crossing the street with Ellis stopped when they saw a car coming, but Ellis ran across the street.
During opening arguments in a murder trial, the prosecution said the decedent was not the intended target and instead got caught up in a shooting that stemmed from a neighborhood rivalry.
Kenneth Adams is charged with first-degree murder while armed, among other charges, for allegedly shooting 21-year-old Dante Kinard on the 1800 block of Benning Road, NE in 2016.
On Oct. 22, the prosecution told the jury that Adams, 20, walked toward a group of people, on Benning Road, NE and pulled out a revolver.
Apparently, Adams robbed the sister of an unnamed individual who was in the group. According to the prosecution, the individual was from the Langston neighborhood which rivals with the 21st and I Street, NE neighborhood. Adams, who is from the 21st and I Street neighborhood, allegedly said the individual was “next.”
The prosecutor said there were multiple eyewitnesses who identified Adams as the shooter. However, the prosecutor also said the witnesses were hesitant to come forward because they didn’t want to be labeled as a “snitch.” The prosecution said witnesses took months to come forward and corroborate that Adams was the shooter.
Adams’ defense attorney, Nikki Lotze, said the eyewitnesses couldn’t have been able to identify the shooter because it was dark and the shooting was “extremely fast.”
Lotze also argued that the investigation went from days to weeks to months without witnesses and as a result detectives became angry. According to Lotze, detectives coerced witnesses to identify Adams.
Lotze told the jury that one of two eyewitnesses initially said, during the investigation, that the shooter couldn’t be identified because it was too dark. However, the same witness, who was later arrested on unrelated charges, was questioned about the murder, again. Apparently, an officer questioned if Adams was the shooter and the witness said they were “80 percent sure” but didn’t want to testify.
Lotze said the witness’s pending charges were dropped after the witness agreed to testify in the murder case.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Oct. 19 the driver of a Mercury Grand Marquis and charged him with second-degree murder and possession of PCP, a hallucinatory drug.
According to a press release, Rodney Bell was allegedly driving the Marquis at a high speed on South Capitol Street, SW around 3 a.m. The Marquis hit the rear of a Volkswagen Passat when it was stopped at a red light.
After hitting the Passat, the Marquis slid down the street, striking the rear of a Toyota Corolla that was also stopped at a red light on South Capitol Street and Galveston Street, SW. The Marquis then jumped a curb, hitting a traffic signal on the 4700 block of South Capitol Street, SW and caught on fire, the release said.
Bell’s passenger, 32-year-old Kevin Thomas, died on the scene. Bell, 42, was taken to an area hospital and later charged.
Bell’s court appearance has been continued four times because he is in the hospital. His next appearance is scheduled for Oct. 25.
During a preliminary hearing Oct. 19, a DC Superior Court judge found substantial probability that a defendant could have fatally shot a man in July.
Kewon Hunter is charged with second-degree murder while armed for shooting 21-year-old Dion Boyd on the 1400 block of Maryland Avenue, NE.
Judge Craig Iscoe said that the individual seen running after the shooting in the videos appeared to be the defendant.
According to court documents, Hunter, 19, allegedly approached the decedent, pulled out a gun and shot Boyd three times. Prior to the shooting, an unknown individual was captured on surveillance video, giving an object to Hunter. The video shows the defendant attempting to conceal an object near his waistband.
“We have different pieces, but those pieces aren’t being put together by someone who can give facial recognition,” Howard McEachern, Hunter’s defense attorney, said, noting that other items the prosecution procured for evidence were irrelevant because no one can clearly identify Hunter in the video.
However, the prosecution insisted that the figure in the video was Hunter. “Everything leading up to it and after it corroborate this defendant as the shooter,” the prosecutor said.
Judge Iscoe ordered Hunter held without bond and noted that the defendant is also being held for an unrelated armed burglary charge.
A felony status conference is scheduled on Jan. 25, 2019.
On Oct. 19, the prosecution and defense discussed an array of conflicts potential witnesses presented for a murder trial.
Terik Mcleod is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Devaun Drayton, 17, and Carlton Fisher, 23, on the 700 Block of 26th Street, NE and the 1100 block of 21st Street, NE, respectively. Fisher, who was killed in 2006, was apparently a witness to Drayton’s homicide in 2004.
The prosecution said it expects to call about 30-35 witnesses. Four of those witnesses are expected to be expert witnesses, the prosecution said. The defense expects to call about 4-6 witnesses.
The prosecution told the judge about several undisclosed conflicts with witnesses.
The defendant’s attorney, Michael Madden, also raised an issue with the prosecution’s first witness. According to Madden, the witness could present a conflict of interest because he called on the witness in an unrelated homicide case.
Even so, McLeod, 32, decided to keep Madden as his attorney.
A murder defendant’s trial date was rescheduled until early next year.
Clinton Womack is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Terry Crutchfield on the 1500 block of Olive Street, NE on Dec. 6, 2016.
Womack’s new trial date is set for Feb. 4, 2019.
The judge granted the new trial date in response to Brady and investigation issues raised by the defense. The issues were not disclosed during the hearing.
According to court documents, Womack, 27, and another man entered an apartment with handguns, demanding drugs from Crutchfield and a group of other people who were inside. While others were able to escape, Crutchfield, 45, was shot and left to die.
Womack is being held without bond and scheduled for a status hearing on Nov. 27.
During a preliminary hearing Oct. 17, two murder defendants pleaded guilty to shooting a man in the Northwest quadrant of the District of Columbia in 2016.
Barry Giles and Marco Williams pleaded guilty to shooting 37-year-old Timothy Lassiter on the 3100 block of Berry Road, NE. Giles, 22, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and carrying a pistol without a license. Williams, 25, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed. The co-defendants were initially charged with felony murder, second-degree murder and assault with the intent to kill while armed.
According to court documents, on Oct. 5, 2016, a witness saw Williams shoot the decedent. The witness said Giles went through the decedent’s pockets after the shooting.
Another witness told police that Giles bragged about what he recovered from the victim’s pockets and his involvement in the shooting, according to the documents.
Giles could be sentenced to eight and a half years in prison if DC Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff accepts the plea. Williams could be sentenced to 15-and-a-half years.
Giles and Williams are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18.
A murder defendant was clearly impaired after striking a woman in the U Street Corridor, a Metropolitan Police Department officer told a jury Oct. 17.
David Jones is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence, and leaving after colliding for killing 65-year-old Carolyn Ellis on the corner of 10th and U Streets, NW on Feb. 6, 2017.
The officer, who administered a field sobriety test on Jones on the night of the crash, said that he was unable to focus during the test. “The odor of alcohol, inability to stand up and the fact he could not complete the test was, in my opinion, enough to determine he was intoxicated,” the officer said.
According to court documents, Ellis and another pedestrian were crossing the street when a black car sped around the corner and struck her. A witness said Ellis’ body was thrown 8-to-10 feet in the air before hitting a parked car and landing on the street. Officers later located Jones, 38, intoxicated and walking away from the car, which was parked on 14th Street, NW.
During Jones’ trial, the prosecution also called a crash reconstruction expert who inspected the car that struck Ellis. He explained that data showed that Jones’ car had no damage to the tires before impact and no brake deficiency during the incident.
The automotive expert also noted that, prior to the accident, the car was traveling at 57 miles per hour despite the 25 miles per hour speed limit.
The District of Columbia saw an uptick in homicides throughout the month of September. As of Oct. 16, the Metropolitan Police Department has made arrests in nearly half of the cases.
September had 20 homicides, which was more than a 100 percent increase from the eight homicides recorded in August, according to D.C. Witness data. MPD made arrests in eight of the 20 cases.
Homicides in September
Nearly an hour into the start of September, 28-year-old Carl Day-Baker was fatally shot on the 1500 block of T Street, SE. Four days later, Timothy Gibson was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed in connection to Day-Baker’s death. Gibson, 27, is scheduled for a felony status conference on Oct. 25.
Day-Baker was the first of 15 people to have a gun-related death in the month of September.
On Sept. 9, Metropolitan Police Department officers found 18-year-old Taquan Pinkney suffering from a gunshot wound on the 2800 block of Stanton Road, SE.
Taquan Pinkney
Elijah Jarmon was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed for Pinkney’s death. Jarmon, 17, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 19. A 15-year-old unidentified male was also arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed for Pinkney’s death. As of Oct. 16, the unidentified individual has not been charged as an adult.
Hours after the police found Pinkney, officers found Israel Gomez, 37, suffering from a stab wound on the 3100 block of 16th Street, NW. Police arrested and charged 44-year-old Policarpo Casarrubias-Rodriguez with first-degree murder while armed. He is scheduled for a felony status conference on Nov. 9.
Abdual Giles
On Sept. 10, 27-year-old Abdual Giles was fatally shot on the 800 block of Chesapeake Street, SE.
Two days later, officers responded to the 1500 block of 18th Street, SE on reports of a car crash and found a car on fire and people trapped inside. Keisha Whitaker, 37, was in the passenger’s seat.
Police arrested and charged 56-year-old Andre Gray with second-degree murder in connection to Whitaker’s death. Gray is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec.14.
On Sept. 14, 6-month-old Brooklynn Zakiyaa Hill-Davis succumbed to burn complications stemming from an incident on the 1900 block of Valley Terrace, SE on Sept. 5. Police arrested and charged Hill-Davis’ father, Bobby Reginald Davis, Jr., with first-degree murder while armed in connection to Hill-Davis’ death. Davis, 21, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 25.
Wendy Karina Martinez
On Sept. 18, Wendy Karina Martinez, 35, was fatally stabbed on the 1400 block of 11th Street, NW. Two days later, Anthony Crawford was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection to Martinez’s death. Crawford, 23, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 8.
Kajuan Deris Young
During the morning of Sept. 21, Kajuan Deris Young, 27, was fatally shot on the 900 block of 3rd Street, SW.
Terrell Butler
Hours later, officers responded to the 5100 block of F Street, SE and found two individuals suffering from gunshot wounds. Both individuals were brought to a nearby hospital, where Terrell Butler, 41, succumbed to his injuries. The second individual sustained non-life threatening injuries.
The following day, police arrived on the 1600 block of Euclid Street, NW and found 37-year-old James Thomas Dunn suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Officers also found another individual suffering from non-life threatening injuries.
Juan Dwayne Jackson
Nearly 20 minutes into the start of Sept. 23, police found 45-year-old Juan Dwayne Jackson suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the 3100 block of Buena Vista Terrace, SE.
Ervin Eugene Watkin
An hour later, Ervin Eugene Watkins, 28, was fatally shot on the 400 block of Howard Road, SE. Terrell Anthony Stephenson was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection to Watkins’ death. Stephenson, 26, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 24.
Approximately three hours after Watkins was killed, police found 42-year-old William Hayworth suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on 3400 block of 22nd Street, SE. Hayworth was pronounced dead on the scene.
On Sept. 24, 64-year-old Thomas Hendricks Hollowell was riding a bicycle on the 1200 block of Constitution Avenue, NW when he was fatally struck by a dark-colored car that ran a red light. The driver did not stop.
Thomas Hollowell
Police arrested and charged Phillip Peoples with second-degree murder in connection to Hollowell’s death. During his presentment in DC Superior Courts Oct. 13, a prosecutor said that Peoples, 20, has five prior traffic violations in Maryland. Peoples was held without bond for various reasons, including his prior violations, the fact that he fled the scene and lying to police during the investigation. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 23.
Later that same day, Damon Dickens, 23, was fatally shot on the 2500 block of Bowen Road, SE. Jamal Blocker was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed. Blocker, 17, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 23.
Marquiawn Williams
Nearly four hours later, police found 25-year-old Marquiawn Williams suffering from
Suspect in Marquiawn Williams’ case
multiple gunshot wounds on the 1800 block of Benning Road, NE. Police are asking for the community’s assistance in identifying and locating the suspect in connection to Williams’ case.
Ervin Aull
Two hours later, 47-year-old Ervin Aull was fatally shot on the 2300 block of 14th Street, NE.
On Sept. 25, police found Anthony Daniel Lawson, 24, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the 6200 block of Eastern Avenue, NE.
On Sept. 29, police found 28-year-old Henry Isaacs suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the 1600 block of U Street, SE.
Henry IsaacsWilbert Brooks
Nearly ten minutes into the last day of September, Wilbert Brooks, 27, was found fatally shot on the 1500 block of Benning Road, NE on Sept. 30.
Editor’s note: The story was updated to reflect the addition of a vehicular homicide that occurred on Sept. 12.
During a 2017 murder trial, an eyewitness and a police officer said they couldn’t identify the driver of a car that fatally struck a woman in the U Street Corridor.
David Jones is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence and leaving after colliding for killing 65-year-old Carolyn Ellis on the corner of 10th and U Streets, NW on Feb. 6, 2017.
According to court documents, Ellis and another pedestrian were crossing the street when a black car sped around the corner and struck her. A witness said Ellis’ body was thrown 8-to-10 feet in the air before hitting a parked car and landing on the street. Officers later located Jones, 38, visibly intoxicated, stumbling on 14th Street, NW.
The person who was with Ellis said he saw a black car with four doors hit the decedent, but he did not see who was driving.
An officer, who was patrolling the area at the time, said that a black car sped past him and crossed the yellow line separating oncoming traffic. However, the officer said he couldn’t identify the driver.
“I saw a black male or female with a light complexion and a dread-like hairstyle,” the officer told the jury. The officer added that he couldn’t confirm that Jones was the individual driving the car.
Stephon Williams was charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 28-year-old Jamar Morris on the Unit block of M Street, NW in 2016.
In July, Judge Iscoe extended an indictment deadline until Aug. 22. In August, prosecutors requested a second extension saying they needed more time to find two witnesses.
Judge Iscoe granted the second extension; however, he released Williams, 25, on personal recognizance due to the prolonged period of the indictment.
During a hearing Oct. 17, a prosecutor said that even though he located a witness, he was not confident he could obtain an indictment.
A second man was fatally shot in the Northeastern quadrant of the District of Columbia on Oct. 16.
According to a press release, the Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the shooting of Rubelio Gomez Cervantes. He was found suffering from a gunshot wound on the 1100 block of 51st Street, NE. Cervantes was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
As of Oct. 17, police told D.C. Witness that there has been no indication that the homicide is connected to another homicide that also occurred in Northeast DC earlier that day.
A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case or any other homicide case in DC.
On Oct. 16 a fatal shooting occurred on the 1300 block of D. St, NE.
According to a press release, the Metropolitan Police Department discovered 59-year-old Ezequiel Fernando Jimenez Pinto suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He died at a local hospital.
The police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information should call the police at 202-727-9099. Anonymous information can also be submitted by text to the TIP LINE at 50411.
