New defense counsel in a 2017 homicide case told the court he was ready to begin arguments on June 8.
Howard Mceachern, who was appointed on May 22, said he was “up to speed” on the case and ready to continue. Mceachern is defending Khalil Davis, who is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Omar Rogers.
According to court documents, Rogers, 25, was in his car in the parking lot of Uniontown Bar and Grill, located on the 2200 block of Martin Luther King Jr Avenue, SE, when a black car pulled up next to him and opened fire.
Davis, 23, along with his co-defendant, Micheal Jones, 21, are scheduled for a felony status conference on July 19. Kevin McCants is Jones’ defense counsel.
Marcus King, Kevin Proctor and Andre Dudley pled guilty June 8 to the 2015 shooting death of Matthew Shlonsky.
The three men recanted their previous not guilty plea and pled guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter while armed and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. According to court documents, Shlonsky, 23, was an unintended target who was caught in a crossfire after exiting a taxi.
Dudley, 22, also pled guilty to one count of attempted assault with a deadly weapon. According to news reports, Dudley, who also pled guilty to charges in an unrelated prison stabbing, could get 20 years and four months in prison.
King, 22, and Proctor, 28, who are apparent members of a DC gang called the Ninth Street Crew, were allegedly arguing with Dudley before the gunfight.
King agreed to a prison term of 15 to 20 years and Proctor agreed to a prison term of 12 to 14 years, local news station WTOP reported.
DC Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna accepted the defendants’ pleas. Their sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 13.
On June 8, a DC Superior Court judge sentenced a man, who pled guilty to a fatal shooting, to 16 years in prison.
Thomas Joyner pled guilty to second-degree murder on Sept. 16, 2016, for fatally shooting Joe Cook. As part of Joyner’s sentence, the 23-year-old is required to serve an additional five years on supervised release.
By pleading guilty to the murder, several other charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, were dismissed.
Joyner shot Cook, 35, on the 2500 block of Elvans Road, SE. During a May 25 hearing, Joyner said he was under the influence of PCP, an hallucinatory drug also known as angel dust, when he pulled the trigger.
Even though Joyner was sentenced on May 25, his sentence was not imposed because Joyner needed to resolve a civil matter in Maryland.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested June 8 Daryl Grant Alexander for a traffic fatality that occurred on the 1100 block of H Street, NE.
According to the police, Alexander, 47, was driving under the influence when he struck a 2018 Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX motorcycle. The driver of the motorcycle, 53 year-old Oren Dorell, was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Alexander is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence and leaving after colliding.
In a status hearing June 6, defense attorneys for co-defendants in a homicide case disagreed on whether to keep the current trial date or to delay the trial by more than a year.
Antoine Byrd and Devonte Johnson are charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing Robinson Pal inside Barcode, a nightclub located on the 1100 block of 17th Street, NW, on January 31, 2016. Pal died on Feb. 1, 2016.
Johnson’s attorney, Brian McDaniel, said he would like to continue with the current July 30 trial date, while Bryd’s attorney, Brandi Harden, said she would like to delay the trial to conduct further DNA testing.
Harden said she received DNA test results from the prosecution that led her to believe that additional testing was needed. According to Harden, she doesn’t know how long the testing would take or what her defense theory would be when it is done.
“We’re talking about a whole new defense theory,” Harden said. “I don’t think it’s fair to ask me to do it in 45 days, nor can I.”
Harden emphasized that the court gave the prosecution six months for DNA testing.
According to the prosecution, their DNA analysis lasted as long as it did because the results from the knife’s handle were a mixture of DNA from five individuals. Test results placed Byrd’s DNA on the knife handle, and results for the other four individuals were inconclusive, the prosecution said.
DC Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe said he wouldn’t issue a ruling, but would keep the current trial date for the moment. If the trial is delayed, it would likely have to wait until October 2019.
On Feb. 21, David Bright pled guilty to two counts of murder in the first-degree. However, on June 8, Bright changed his plea to not guilty.
Bright, 31, is accused of allegedly shooting his housemates, 45-year-old David Watkins Jr. and Clifton Francis,51, on the 500 block of 58th Street, NE in February 2016. According to court documents, Bright was found with the murder weapon, a .40 caliber pistol. Despite an extensive amount of evidence from the prosecution, Bright wrote a letter to DC Superior Court Judge Ronna L. Beck stating that he wanted to change his guilty plea.
The change follows a sentencing hearing held May 18 that was continued to June 8. After the May 18 hearing, Bright’s mother told D.C. Witness that her son’s guilty plea was coerced. D.C. Witness is currently investigating the mother’s accusations.
Because of the change, Judge Beck assigned a criminal justice attorney to advise Bright on his decision to change his plea. The defense is interested in having a mental health evaluation and/or a competency screening conducted.
The judge is giving Bright more time to decide if he would like to move forward with the not-guilty plea.
After being charged with second-degree murder while armed, Kevin Smith pled not guilty during an arraignment on June 8.
Smith, who was 47 at the time of the homicide, is charged with allegedly shooting Valerie Coleman, the grandmother of his child. Apparently, Smith killed the 55-year-old in retaliation to finding out that his girlfriend, who was Coleman’s daughter, was cheating on him.
On June 8, Smith changed counsel. Smith’s new attorney requested time to review evidence in the case.
The arraignment is scheduled to continue on July 18.
The prosecution said May 30 they would continue investigating a shooting death that took place in the parking lot of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center near the 6900 block of Georgia Avenue, NW.
Koonce Wright allegedly shot Brian Gibson three times on Dec. 8, 2017. Wright is charged with second-degree murder while armed.
Gibson and Wright worked for G&M Limo Service. On the day of the shooting, the men were driving construction workers to and from a construction site on Military Road, NW.
Wright, 59, said the two were involved in a verbal confrontation when Gibson, 45, became physically violent and punched him, knocking out several teeth.Wright said he then pulled a gun on Gibson.
According to court documents, Wright shot at Gibson as he began to run. Apparently, Wright chased Gibson until he fell, at which point Wright shot him again.
Wright’s defense attorney, Madalyn Harvey, requested time to file a motion to reconsider bond due to the defendant’s medical condition. The condition was not specified.
A felony status conference is scheduled on June 20.
In a status hearing for the 2016 murder of Deonta Farrar, the defense responded to a potential plea bargain with a counter-offer, which was not publically disclosed.
The defendant, Saeed Woodall, 24, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Farrar on the 4500 block of Quarles Street, NE in August 2016.
Farrar, 23, had a child with Woodall’s sister, according to court documents.
The prosecution said they would notify D.C. Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe once they examined the counter-offer and were ready to move forward.
On June 6, a Washington, DC Superior Court judge said prosecutors established probable cause in the case of a fatal stabbing that occurred in a Southeast DC alleyway.
Antonio Jackson, who is charged with first-degree murder while armed, allegedly stabbed Maria Antoinette Evans 19 times on March 29.
Jackson, 32, was identified by his parole officer from a surveillance video that shows him and Evans, 52, walking behind a fence in an alley.
The footage also shows Jackson holding a knife as he walks behind the fence with Evans. Shortly after, Jackson and Evans emerge from behind the fence, heading in different directions. In the video, Evans jogs a short distance before slowing while holding her side.
The defense said the video supported the defendant’s innocence because Evans was seen jogging away from the alleged area of confrontation.
“It’s probably not an exaggeration to say it’s physically impossible for her to have been stabbed 19 times,” said Jackson’s defense attorney, Gabriel Diaz. “You can see she’s alive and they part ways.”
The prosecution said the majority of her bleeding was internal, which would explain why the video does not clearly show her bleeding. According to court documents, Evans was stabbed in the upper body and torso.
Judge Craig Iscoe said he found probable cause from the lead detective’s testimony and the video.
Judge Iscoe also denied a request for release but said that if DNA evidence from the alleyway turned out to favor the defense, the request could be reconsidered.
A felony status conference is scheduled for Aug. 17.
A District of Columbia Superior Court Judge continued June 6 the preliminary hearing for a murder defendant accused of beating a 1-year-old boy to death. The hearing was continued to give the defense more time to review evidence and a plea deal.
Brian Wooden is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s son, Carter Sanders, on the 4700 block of Benning Rd., SE on May 16. The boy’s injuries included a fractured skull, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver, according to court documents.
The plea deal would reduce Wooden’s charge to second-degree murder.
Wooden, 28, was apparently caring for the boy at the time of the murder.
As of June 6, Sanders death is the second murder of a child who was 2-years-old or younger in DC in 2018.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the homicide of 29-year-old Vincent Palmer.
Palmer was fatally shot on the 1300 block of Stevens Road, SE on June 6.
Police are offering up to a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this homicide or any other homicide in DC. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Information can also be sent anonymously to the text tip line at 50411.
In place of conducting a preliminary hearing for Kavonte Richardson, who is charged with first-degree murder while armed, a DC Superior Court Judge scheduled a status hearing on June 22.
Judge Ronna L. Beck said she didn’t want to call witnesses unnecessarily because there was a possibility they would not testify. Instead, she scheduled a status hearing to set a preliminary hearing date.
Richardson, 24, allegedly robbed and stabbed 26-year-old Matthew Scott Rooker on May 13 on the 600 block of Seventh St., NW. Richardson apparently resided at a homeless shelter near the scene of the crime.
According to the Washington Post, a witness saw Richardson and Rooker fighting over a backpack. Rooker suffered from multiple stab wounds to the neck, arm and back.
At a trial readiness hearing, the judge presiding over a 2015 homicide case rescheduled the trial for a new date in 2019.
Antonio Brown, 30, allegedly shot Charles Welch, 25, on the 1800 block of Harvard St., NW. His girlfriend Amanda Turner, 39, was allegedly waiting in the car.
The fourth change of the trial’s date was in response to a request from counsel because they needed more time to secure witnesses and file motions relevant to the case. Both parties wanted to secure experts to review Brown’s medical records.
DC Superior Court Judge Ronna L. Beck scheduled the new trial date on Jan. 3, 2019. She said the new date should give the defense and prosecution enough time to get expert witnesses.
Brown and Turner’s next status hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7.
On June 5, Juan Kibler’s attorney requested a competency screening to decipher if his client should stand trial.
Kibler, 27, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing Joseph Harris on May 7. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Harris, 40, was reportedly found dead on the 2100 block of 14th St., SE.
Kibler is due back in court June 12 for a status hearing. His lawyers said they would review his competency results at the hearing.
