On March 24, Sean Anderson was fatally shot on the 2300 Block of Good Hope Road, SE. The Metropolitan Police Department is currently investigating the homicide. Anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide committed in D.C. could receive a reward.
Anthony Smith, 33, was found on the 2300 block of Raynolds Place, SE with multiple gunshot wounds on March 24. I was pronounced dead on the scene.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested 35 year-old Fredrick Lorenzo Nowlin Jr.March 22 and charged him with second-degree murder while armed for the alleged stabbing death of 52-year-old Andre Butler.
33-year-old Derrick Wright, a resident of Upper Marlboro, Md., was fatally stabbed on the 1300 Block of Florida Avenue, NE during the early morning hours of March 24.
A man convicted of second-degree murder while armed for a fatal shooting that occurred 20 years ago recently testified that he was in Maryland with his girlfriend at the time of the homicide.
Venlonte Bethea, 43, is in the process of appealing a guilty verdict reached in 2002 for the homicide of Deante Lacay Howe that occurred on the 700 block of Malcolm X Ave, SE on Sept. 21, 1998.
During a motions hearing, Bethea said he was not satisfied with the work of his previous attorney, Michael Lasley, because he failed to subpoena several witnesses who would’ve testified to Bethea’s innocence.
According to Bethea, a neighbor could invalidate the testimony of one of the prosecution’s key witnesses. During the murder trial, the witness testified that she saw Bethea shoot the victim from a neighbor’s window. However, that neighbor told Judge Craig Iscoe March 22 that he was not home and “there is no way physically possible” for the woman to have been in his residence during the time of the incident.
Neither Bethea’s neighbor nor his girlfriend were called to testify during the trial.
Assistant United States Attorney Pamela Satterfield said Bethea did not say he was in Maryland during the trial. Satterfield also said the neighbor could not be sure the witness wasn’t in his home because he wasn’t there.
Satterfield said the prosecution will likely call Lasley as a witness at a status hearing on May 1. Judge Iscoe ordered the prosecution to provide a status report to his chambers by April 17.
Travis Courtney Ennis, 26, was fatally shot on the 2900 Block of Langston Place, SE on March 21.
Co-defendants in the shooting death of 27-year-old Arthur Thompkins were recently found to have probable cause in the homicide.
Thompkins was allegedly shot to death in the front seat of his pickup truck on the 5400 Block of Hunt Place, NE on Oct. 17, 2017. The Metropolitan Police Department found thirteen shell casings in the bed and cab of the truck.
Judge Danya Dayson ruled that Markale Moore, 29, had substantial probability for first-degree murder while armed. Judge Dayson said she made her ruling from testimony from a witness who was riding with Thompkins. The witness said Moore, 29, shot Thompkins. Her ruling was also based on Moore telling another witness, “I did it because it had to be done,” in reference to the shooting.
In addition, Judge Dayson said she found probable cause to believe that Tyrone Harris aided and abetted Moore with the homicide.
The lead detective in the case said the night allegedly began with Harris storming onto the 5300 Block of Jay Street,NE, located in the Burrville neighborhood, angry at rumors that he and Moore were shooting at each other.
While on the street, Harris spoke to Thompkins and another person briefly. He eventually met Moore on Jay Street. The two men spoke before Moore began to walk toward Hunt Place, the detective said.
Witnesses said they saw Harris give Moore a gun shortly before the shooting. Witnesses also said they saw Harris drive next to Moore in a dark colored sedan. The sedan is confirmed as being on the scene from nearby surveillance cameras. It is not clear if Thompkins circulated the rumors.
The judge ordered both men be held without bail. The judge also said she would recommend Harris for a transfer to the Correctional Treatment Facility so that he could take advantage of life and job skills programs.
The case is waiting to be presented to a grand jury. A felony status conference is scheduled to be held on June 27.
A GPS tracker shows one of the defendants in a 2014 murder trial traveled from one corridor in the city to another immediately after allegedly shooting Willard Carlos Shelton.
A witness told the jury Tyrone Height, who, at the time, was on probation for an unrelated crime, was located at the scene of the shooting on the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road, SE on Aug. 31, 2014, around the time Shelton, 38, was killed. Height’s device showed him leaving the scene and traveling to Northeast D.C. in the early morning hours on Sept. 1, 2014.
Height, 25, and James Young have been charged with first-degree murder while armed.
Additionally, a firearms expert testified that shell casings and damage to nearby cars showed bullets were more than likely coming from one direction, which invalidates any claims of self-defense.
Carl Gray died March 16 from wounds he obtained from a shooting in 2017. The Metropolitan Police Department found Gray, 25, along with another man in an apartment on the 3100 block of Buena Vista Terrace, SE.
The Metropolitan Police Department found Aujee Tyler, 22, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the 3500 Block of Stanton Rd., SE on March 19. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The prosecution recently impeached the testimony of James Young’s neighbor during a murder trial.
Young and Tyrone Height have been charged with first-degree murder while armed for shooting Willard Carlos Shelton on the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road, SE on Aug. 31, 2014.
Young’s neighbor repeatedly told the prosecution March 19 that she didn’t remember specific events, including Young, 24, and Height, 25, forcing their way into her apartment.
Instead, the neighbor told the jury that she thought of Young as her son and didn’t want him to get into trouble.
According to court documents, the neighbor previously told the grand jury that she told the men she was angry with them for kicking her door in.
Metropolitan Police Department documents stated that a gun was found in the neighbor’s apartment, but the neighbor told the jury that she had no idea it was there. However, the prosecution noted an earlier testimony where the neighbor told the grand jury that she had a conversation with Young about a gun he left in her apartment.
In addition to the neighbor, the prosecution also showed videos of Young speaking with his brother while detained at the D.C. Department of Corrections.
In the videos, Young directed his brother to threaten a potential witness’ boyfriend on Facebook, so the witness would not testify.
The trial is expected to continue on March 20.
Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe recently ruled there was probable cause for 49-year-old Bernadette King‘s boyfriend to murder her.
Judge Iscoe said March 15 there was probable cause with substantial probability that Tylor, 41, committed the murder because he gave the Metropolitan Police Department’s investigating detective contradictory statements among other defensive behaviors and words as they began their investigation.
The Judge said probability was also shown because there was no sign of forced entry to the apartment. Witnesses told the police that they did not hear any barking from the dogs owned by the decedent and the defendant.
The judge also said it looked coincidental that Taylor, who was the only other person with keys to the apartment, lost his keys around the time King was killed. The court suggested the keys could have been planned as a cover up to the crime.
The police were also called to the apartment because of a physical altercation between King and the defendant a week before the homicide, but charges were not filed.
Judge Iscoe questioned whether the prosecution had enough evidence to prove a murder conviction without reasonable doubt. He also allowed the defense to have a continuance to determine how they will proceed. A felony status conference is scheduled on June 6.
The case has not been seen by a grand jury as of March 19.
The homicide of Matthew Thomas, 22, occurred on March 17 on the the 3000 Block of Stanton Road, SE.
Counsel delivered closing arguments March 15 in the 2015 murder trial of 32-year-old Tyrone Moore.
According to the prosecution, Harold Marshall, 40, made the conscious decision to kill Moore. Moore was in a violent relationship with Marshall’s sister when he allegedly stabbed him on the 1600 block of F Street, NE on March 22, 2015. Marshall was charged with first-degree murder while armed.
Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Santiago said that when Moore got into an argument with his girlfriend on the night of his death. Marshall, who was sleeping on the couch at the time, got involved. Santiago said the altercation between Marshall and Moore became physical.
Marshall’s sister and Moore’s female friend, who was also staying at the apartment, separated the men. However, when Marshall realized he was bleeding, Santiago said, Marshall proceeded to allegedly stab Moore.
The prosecution also cited testimony from Marshall’s son to invalidate Marshall’s claim that he acted in self-defense or to protect his sister. According to the son, his aunt was trying to hold the bedroom door to keep Marshall from entering.
Marshall allegedly fled the crime scene with the knife, changed his shirt and got rid of the murder weapon. He was arrested a few hours later.
The defense told a vastly different story of how the night unfolded. According to Marshall’s attorney, David Knight, Marshall reasonably believed he had no choice but to go through the bedroom door to protect himself and his sister.
Knight said that Marshall’s sister and the female friend’s testimonies could not be believed because their accounts of the altercation changed over time. Knight also said that Marshall’s son was only 14 years old at the time and misconstrued details about the night.
According to Knight, Moore not only threw the first punch, but also initially pulled a knife on Marshall and stabbed him twice.
Knight said that Marshall asked Moore to leave and had reason to believe that his sister was in trouble when she was locked in the bedroom.
According to the defense, Marshall and Moore struggled over the knife before Moore was stabbed. A knife was found in the living room, but it did not have a sufficient amount of DNA that could be tested on it. The defense said Marshall’s blood on the walls of the apartments prove that he was defending himself.
The jury is expected began their deliberations on March 20.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, 43-year-old Andre Junior, a resident of Upper Marlboro, Md., was shot and killed on the 1500 block of Park Road, NW. The police arrested 27-year-old Robert Edward Green on March 15.
