The Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating a fatal shooting that occurred on the 300 block of Rhode Island Avenue, NE on July 20.
James Tyrone Eaton, 26, was found in a residence suffering from gunshot wounds. Eaton died on the scene.
Up to a $25,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case or any other homicide case in DC.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating a fatal stabbing that occurred on the 1500 block of 19th Street, SE on July 19.
According to police, 44-year-old Lusharone Nicholson was found inside a residence suffering from apparent stab wounds.
Up to a $25,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction for this homicide or any other homicide in DC. Nicholson died on the scene.
After deliberating for three days, a jury found three men guilty of murder.
Charles McRae, Willie Glover and Joseph Barbour killed Lenard Wills in an apartment on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE.
McRae was found guilty of felony murder while armed under aggravated circumstances, burglary one while armed, attempt to commit robbery while armed, assault with intent to commit robbery while armed and simple assault. He was found not guilty of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Barbour,38, was found guilty of felony murder while armed under aggravated circumstances, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, burglary one while armed, attempt to commit robbery while armed, assault with intent to commit robbery while armed, unlawful possession with a prior conviction, assault with a dangerous weapon and simple assault. Barbour was found not guilty of carrying a pistol with a prior felony.
Glover, 40, was found guilty of felony murder while armed under aggravating circumstances, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, burglary one while armed, attempt to commit robbery while armed, assault with intent to commit robbery while armed and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was found not guilty of carrying a pistol without a license.
What Happened?
One night in 2015, witnesses said three men stormed into the crowded apartment demanding money. When the chaos subsided, Wills, 50, was dead.
According to court documents and testimony from several witnesses, on the day of the incident, McRae and Wills’ girlfriend argued about money. Witnesses said McRae then left the apartment.
According to witness testimony, Wills was sitting at the dining room table smoking a cigarette and drinking beer before the robbers entered.
Another witness said McRae shouted “you know what time it is!” as he came back to the apartment with Barbour and Glover who were wearing masks. “Get out the way-this has nothing to do with you,” McRae told the people near Wills. The men demanded money from Wills and beat him with their guns.
A witness, who said he often acted as the apartment’s unofficial “doorman,” identified Barbour and Glover.
According to witness testimony, when the men began beating Wills, he swung a knife at them. McRae then grabbed a knife from a drying rack in the kitchen, walked over to the scuffle and stabbed Wills.
Wills was apparently speaking and moving around for some time after the stabbing. He asked to be taken to the hospital, then asked for someone to call an ambulance.
“I ain’t gonna make it drivin’,” Wills said according to a witness.
Another witness said he saw Glover get in his van and speed off after the attack. Soon after the incident, a speed-camera snapped a picture of Glover’s license plate.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrived to find people fleeing the building, blood in the hallway and Wills lying on the apartment floor, his breathing labored.
A medical examiner confirmed the cause of Wills’ death was multiple stab wounds to the torso. The examiner also found blunt-force injuries caused by a small or medium-sized heavy objecton Wills’ head and face.
DNA taken from the living room floor was a mixture from three individuals. The only person who could be identified by DNA testing was Barbour, who was stabbed during the incident.
MPD recovered a knife covered in Barbour’s blood. During trial, a forensic analyst testified that she could not be sure if the knife was used to kill Wills. She said it was possible that a kitchen knife was used instead.
Another man, arrested for crossing police lines near where Barbour was detained, had a kitchen knife slung through his waistband. The knife was never tested as a potential murder weapon. The man was not charged in connection to the murder.
Samuel Delgado, Barbour’s defense attorney, said his client was an innocent victim of the attack, and the real third attacker “ran from (the apartment) into the night forevermore.”
Delgado urged jurors to disregard the witnesses’ testimonies. “They had been binging on crack cocaine and heroin for days,” the attorney said. “Those witnesses were malleable as a lump of clay… (The lead detective) began to mold his own version of the truth.”
Delgado also complained that some witnesses, who claimed to want to do the right thing by testifying, had not voluntarily spoken to police after the incident. He said the witnesses came forward after being detained for other crimes.
Delgado said witnesses gossiped with each other, corrupting their own memories of what happened and creating false narratives in the minds of people who were not actually there.
During his closing argument, McRae’s attorney, Elliott Queen, cited a witness who he said was more reliable than the others because she held a steady job at the U.S. Post Office. That witness said she did not recognize the unmasked robber, who others identified as McRae, despite being a regular at the apartment.
Queen said his client’s relationship with Wills and his girlfriend was friendly. According to Queen, when McRae and Wills argued, it was usually about sports, specifically “a quarterback controversy.”
“What this evidence clearly shows… Is that Mr. McRae went to (the apartment) to get high (and) walked in at the wrong time,” Queen said.
Closing statements concluded on July 12, three weeks after the trial began on June 19.
The co-defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 14.
A man who pled guilty to murder may have violated his plea agreement by possibly lying while under oath during another murder trial.
Paul Swann is currently on trial for second-degree murder while armed for the death of Adam Barker on the 2700 block of Langston Place, SE in 2016. According to court documents, Barker, 21, was approached by Swann, 24; Traveous Brown; and one other person after a brief verbal altercation. Swann and Brown then allegedly shot at Barker.
Brown, 28, pled guilty to second-degree murder while armed on June 14 for his involvement with Barker’s death. His sentence for the murder would run concurrent to the 27 years Brown received for an unrelated robbery conviction in Virginia.
Even though Brown pled guilty, he still implicated Swann in the murder. “Swann pulled out a gun and decided to shoot Barker,” Brown told the jury. Brown said he pulled out his gun as well and shot twice at Barker’s friend, a man called “Juice.”
During cross-examination, Brown denied killing Barker. He said Swann was the one who killed him. Under his plea agreement, Brown could receive a lighter sentence for testifying.
During trial on July 19, while the jury was out, the prosecution played three phone calls from March 30, 2016, after Swann was arrested. During these calls, Swann told his grandmother about his concerns over Brown.
“They’re lying on me… I did not do this,” Swann told his grandmother. Swann was first arrested on a robbery charge in Virginia on March 8, 2016. Swann said he was “aware of the damage [Brown] can do.”
DC Superior Court Judge Ronna Beck told counsel that it’s unclear whether the cooperation Swann discussed in the calls referred to the robbery charges or Barker’s murder. Judge Beck said she has not made a decision about whether the calls would be admitted as relevant evidence.
Swann’s trial is scheduled to proceed to closing arguments on July 23.
During a hearing July 11, a DC Superior Court judge questioned an interruption in a murder defendant’s tracking device.
Per the terms of a plea agreement, Kimberly Shaw pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to voluntary manslaughter for the stabbing death of Leonte Cox, 23, on the 1600 block of R Street, SE, in 2017. Shaw, 35, is currently released under the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP).
Shaw’s GPS monitor apparently had an interruption which concerned her case manager. Pretrial services told Judge Danya Dayson that Shaw’s GPS battery was not properly charged and expired. Pretrial services said this was also due to her being in a hospital from June 20 to June 27.
Defense counsel told Judge Dayson that Shaw has been reporting for drug testing, and will continue to report to her case manager.
According to the District Attorney’s Office the case was transfered from DC to Maryland.
D.C. Witness was not able to verify the terms of Shaw’s plea agreement.
During closing arguments July 18, the defense and prosecution debated the validity of two witness testimonies that implicated the murder defendant.
Kelby Gordon is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Gabriel Carlos Turner on the 2600 block of Birney Place, SE in early 2016. According to the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Turner, 46, was shot in the back and the bullet traveled to his head.
The prosecution called two witnesses, the defendant’s ex-girlfriend and a cooperating witness who is awaiting sentencing for an unrelated second-degree murder conviction. The witnesses said Gordon, 32, confessed to shooting someone during a robbery gone wrong.
The prosecutor said that despite the fact that the witnesses never met, both gave the same story. Both said Gordon saw the money, acted on impulse, shot an innocent man, had a Glock pistol and ran to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment.
“He tried to rob someone and it went wrong,” the ex-girlfriend said. She apparently told police that Gordon saw the decedent with cash and wanted to take it.
The prosecutor showed the surveillance video of the shooting and pointed out how the victim is shot in the back and instantly collapses while the shooter runs away. Several cameras follow Gordon’s flight path to the apartment where his ex-girlfriend lived.
“The only one with a gun behind Gabriel Turner, the only one behind him period is Kelby Gordon,” the prosecution told the jury.
The prosecutor said this was not a case of mistaken identity as the defense argued. “The path that law enforcement took, led them straight to the defendant (Gordon),” she said.
During his closing statement, Defense Attorney Richard Holliday repeated the case’s lack of forensic evidence.
Holliday said the government is relying on two witnesses, one who is fabricating a story to get a lighter sentence and the other to receive witness protection benefits. The ex-girlfriend, “ended up making a lot of lemonade out of some really bitter lemons,” Holliday said.
Although there is video that clearly shows two shooters, “you will never know conclusively who shot the fatal shot,” he said.
The jury is scheduled to deliberate on July 19.
New evidence offered by the defense contradicts what a witness said during his testimony in a murder trial.
Paul Swann is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Adam Barker on the 2700 block of Langston Place, SE in 2016. According to court documents, Swann, 24; Traveous Brown, and one other unidentified person approached Barker, 21, after a verbal altercation. The documents state that Swann and Brown shot at Barker. Swann was arrested shortly after Barker’s death for an unrelated gun charge.
On July 16, Mani Golzari, Swann’s attorney, asked a person, whom the prosecution says witnessed the murder if he used a law enforcement database known as Justis to identify Swann. The eyewitness denied ever using the database to research Swann.
Justis keeps records of alleged offenders. The database also monitors use. On July 17, Golzari gave the court a record that showed the eyewitnesses logged onto the system prior to being asked to identify the suspect. Golzari said the witness used the database to get a profile of Swann.
According to the witness’s testimony, he was in his van, which was within 15 feet of the altercation, when it occurred. The witness told a police officer minutes after the shooting that the suspect was a black male with dreadlocks who wore a black jacket. The witness later said the suspect displayed a scowl before the shooting.
During cross-examination, Golzari asked the witness how it was that he could see the suspect’s scowl, but couldn’t see Swann’s face tattoos. Apparently, the witness only told detectives about the tattoos after he logged into the database.
Defense counsel told the jury during their opening arguments July 16 that the only eyewitness of the crime was unreliable because the incident allegedly happened within a matter of seconds, and as such, he couldn’t tell who actually committed the crime.
During a felony status conference, a prosecutor argued that a 16-year-old murder defendant should be held in jail and not at a youth rehabilitation facility.
Titus Iracks is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Larry Harrell on the 1200 block of Mount Olivet Road, NE on June 13. According to court documents, police found Harrell, 43, lying in a parking lot suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Harrell was pronounced dead on the scene.
Iracks, who was charged as an adult, is currently being held in the DC Jail, according to the DC Department of Corrections.
On July 17, the prosecution told DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson that based on her substantial probability finding, DC law mandates that Iracks be held in jail. The prosecutor said the allegations against Iracks make him a danger to the population if he is housed at New Beginnings, a male youth development facility in Maryland. She also said New Beginnings was not prepared to care for additional youths and that there were complaints from staff about safety.
New Beginnings Senior Deputy Director Linda Harper told Judge Dayson that New Beginnings is fully prepared to care for Iracks and said that when he was previously housed there, for an unrelated case, he was not a “troublemaker.” She also said there is a range of feelings among the staff about the possibility of a population increase, but that New Beginnings currently houses less than 20 youth even though its present funding allows for 60.
Iracks’ defense attorney, Ronald Resetarits, argued that his client should be transferred to the youth facility not only because of the educational and vocational services made available there but because of the law. According to the Comprehensive Youth Justice Amendment Act of 2016 , DC Jail will be required to transfer all juveniles to the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services by Oct. 1.
“He’s going to be locked up, it’s just a better place,” Resetarits said. “We want him to be better for the future. Not scarred from incarceration.”
Judge Dayson said she would need to conduct further research before making her ruling.
Iracks is scheduled for a felony status conference on July 27.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the shooting death of a 26-year-old Washington, DC resident in the Southeast section of the city.
According to a press release, officers found Cheyenne Washington suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the 4400 block of E Street, SE. He apparently lived in the neighborhood. According to the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Washington died on the scene.
The Washington Post reports that the MPD has not identified a suspect or motive in the case.
A reward of up to $25,000 is currently being offerred for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this homicide or any other homicide in DC.
As of July 19, there have been 84 homicides in DC in 2018. Ten of those homicides have occurred since the summer began on June 21, according to D.C. Witness data.
Defense attorneys in a co-defendant murder case said July 16 they needed access to one of the prosecution’s witnesses before proceeding to trial.
Jerrell Powell and Jeremiah Jordan are charged with first-degree murder while armed for the death of Antoine McCullough in 2016. According to prosecutors, one of the defendants shot McCullough, 30, on the 3500 block of 18th Street, SE after an argument.
Court documents state that the witness in question saw McCullough, 30, squaring off against someone, who may have been Jordan’s cousin, before the shooting. The witness also said McCullough and Jordan, 27, had a disagreement while playing craps, a dice game, earlier the same day.
The defense team argued that access to the witness would enable them to prepare an adequate defense. “It’s shocking to the mind,” said Brandi Harden, who represents Powell, 23. “I’ve never been this close to trial without knowing who the witnesses are.”
D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson said the defense will have access to the witness’ grand jury transcript. However, defense attorneys said the transcript does not have “complete information.” Dayson ordered the prosecution to turn over redacted information for the witness. However, the defense’s request for identification of the witness was denied.
A trial readiness hearing is scheduled for July 20. A jury trial is scheduled to begin on July 31.
During a status hearing July 16, a judge found a murder defendant competent to stand trial.
Ammaad Chase-El is charged with first-degree murder while armed for his involvement in an attempted robbery that resulted in the fatal shooting of Antonio Ayala. The other defendants in the case are Javonte Odom, who is charged with first-degree murder, and Herman Odom, who pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Herman was sentenced to 18 years in prison. According to court documents, the defendants allegedly tried to rob Ayala, 34, on the corner of 13th and Van Buren Street, NW in 2015.
Since his arrest, Chase-El, 26, has worked with a clinical psychologist and undergone court-ordered psychiatric treatment at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s psychiatric hospital. In 2016, Judge Florence Pan ordered Chase-El be involuntarily medicated in order to help him achieve competency. He later agreed to voluntarily take his medication.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson ruled Chase-El competent but ordered him to remain at St. Elizabeth’s to “maintain” his competency.
A status hearing is scheduled for Aug. 22.
A day after a defendant’s ex-girlfriend said he confessed to murder, a cooperating witness said the defendant told him about the murder while they were housed in the same jail unit.
Kelby Gordon is charged with first-degree murder while armed, attempted robbery while armed and attempted assault with the intent to kill for allegedly shooting Gabriel Carlos Turner on the 2600 block of Birney Place, SE in 2016. According to court documents, police found Turner suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper back.
On July 16, a cooperating witness took the stand and testified against Gordon, 32. The witness, who was convicted of second-degree murder for an unrelated homicide, is awaiting sentencing.
According to the witness, he and Gordon met in middle school and lived in the same neighborhood. When both men were held at DC Jail, the witness said they would get together and talk about guns, women and each other’s cases.
The witness said Gordon told him he got locked up for killing someone. The witness said Gordon told him that he was in his friend’s car when he saw someone with money and he pulled out his gun to steal it. Apparently, Gordon saw Turner start to pull out a gun so Gordon shot him. The witness described the gun as a glock. Police found shell casings for a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson on the crime scene.
During cross-examination, the defense questioned the witness’ credibility. Defense Attorney Richard Holliday suggested that the witness was looking for a “get out of jail free card” for testifying. The witness said he has been a witness in a number of cases and is doing all he can to lessen his sentence.
Defense counsel continued to insist July 12 that the defendants in a murder trial were actually the victims and that police and prosecutors constructed a false narrative around their mistaken theory of the case.
Joseph Barbour, Willie Glover and Charles McRae are charged with first-degree murder while armed. Witnesses say the men attempted to rob an apartment on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE in 2015. According to witness testimony, Barbour, 38, and Glover, 40, stormed into the Langston Terrace apartment wearing masks while McRae, 66, came in without one. They are accused of stabbing Lenard Wills, 50, during the robbery.
Barbour’s attorney, Samuel Delgado, began his closing statement by reiterating his theory of the case. The attorney said Barbour was already in the apartment using drugs when three robbers entered. He said Barbour was stabbed in the chaos as people tried to escape.
Barbour’s attorney also said witnesses were coached by police and prosecutors between their initial interviews, grand jury testimonies and trial testimonies. He said the police and prosecutors implanted the key points of their theory of the case into the minds of the witnesses. According to Delgado, police intentionally neglected to tape interviews and took statements from witnesses whose minds were clouded by drug use in order to guide their testimonies and craft their own narrative.
Delgado then told the jury that the witnesses the prosecution used were not necessarily dependable, emphasizing that they were not the sorts of people the jury would invest their money with, and therefore were not to be trusted with other important matters.
Glover’s attorney, Thomas Heslep, commented on the witness who called himself “the doorman” in his closing statement, saying it was suspicious that the witness did not speak about the crime for years.
In addition, Glover’s attorney said he believed the police missed probable witnesses because they were locked into an incorrect theory. For example, Heslep referenced video footage taken when police arrived on the scene. The video showed a man, who was not questioned by police, leaving the building. Glover’s attorney said the police ignored the man because he didn’t fit into their theory.
“Whatever facts that came that might have disturbed their hypothesis were ignored,” Heslep said.
In response, the prosecution said the man, who left the building about 10 minutes after the stabbing, was excluded because, if he had been the murderer, there would have not been any reason for him to stick around after committing the crime.
The prosecution also said inadequate attention was paid to DNA found on one of Barbour’s shoes, a mixture from two individuals, one of whom was confirmed as Barbour. The other sample could not be determined.
Like Barbour’s attorney, McRae’s attorney said be believed his client was a victim. He said McRae happened to be entering the apartment when the robbers stormed in. Several witnesses have said McRae regularly came to the apartment to do drugs.
The jury began their deliberations July 13.
A man charged with second-degree murder for driving while under the influence is scheduled for trial in 2019.
Lavonne Beckett is accused of causing the death of Tanisha Ray in 2017 when he crashed his vehicle on the 600 block of Florida Avenue, NE. Ray was in the passenger’s seat of Beckett’s car. During an interview with police, Beckett said he smoked a cigarette dipped in PCP, a hallucinatory drug, before driving to DC.
Beckett pled not guilty in May and rejected a plea offer from the prosecution in June.
He is currently released under the High Intensity Supervision Program. However, his attorney requested that his release status change to personal recognizance. D.C. Superior Court Judge Ronna Beck said the attorney should file a bond review motion outlining the request.
A trial readiness hearing is scheduled for May 17, 2019, in advance of the trial, which is scheduled to begin on June 13, 2019.
Defense counsel in a murder trial told the jury that accusations against her client are due to the police’s failure to investigate the crime properly.
Paul Swann is charged with second-degree murder while armed for the death of Adam Barker on the 2700 block of Langston Place, SE in 2016.
Swann is also charged with possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction and unlawful possession of ammunition.
According to court documents, Barker, 21, and Swann, 26, allegedly got into a verbal altercation moments before Swann and Traveous Brown began to shoot at Barker. Barker succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the back that also caused severe brain damage. Brown pled guilty to second-degree murder in June. He is awaiting sentencing.
“Sloppy police work, a rush to judgment and failure to investigate is why we’re here today,” said Ieshaah Murphy, Swann’s attorney, during her opening statement.
Murphy told jurors there was a lack of reliable eyewitnesses, physical and forensic evidence. Apparently, bloody clothing including a black jacket and facemask, ten shell casings from a .9mm, .380 caliber and .22 caliber bullets did not provide conclusive DNA matches to Swann.
The prosecution said surveillance at the time of the crime matches eyewitness testimony. According to the prosecution, cell phone messages and pictures show a relation between the defendant and the decedent.
Swann’s trial is scheduled to continue on July 17.
