Decedent’s Family Disrupts Killer’s Sentencing

The sentencing for Thomas Joyner became unruly May 25 as the decedent’s family expressed their agitation.

The family of Joe Cook, who was fatally shot by Joyner in 2016, yelled and cursed as they gave their statements of impact to District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson. Joyner, 28, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter on Jan. 7, 2017.

Tonetta Cook, the decedent’s older sister, repeatedly addressed Joyner during the sentencing process.

“Look at me, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me you’re sorry,” the sister said during her statement. “This was premeditated; you emptied two clips in my brother. Sixteen shots for what?”

Tonetta was eventually asked to leave the courtroom after she continuously interrupted Joyner during his statement to the judge.

Joyner, who said he was allegedly high on PCP and marijuana, asked Cook’s family for forgiveness.

“I admit this wasn’t self defense and I acted out of fear in a drug induced state,” Joyner said. “I am not the same man today I was then.”

Judge Dayson sentenced Joyner to 16 years in prison with an additional five years of supervised release. He is also
required to register as a gun offender after his prison term.

The sentence will be imposed at a later date because Joyner has a civil matter that needs to be resolved in Maryland.

Document: Pedestrian Fatality on Suitland Parkway and Firth Sterling Avenue, SE

A pedestrian was hit May 27 while crossing Suitland Parkway and was struck by a vehicle traveling in the westbound lane of the Parkway. As of May 28, the decedent has not been identified.

Document: Homicide on Langston Terrace, NE

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the fatal shooting of 24-year old Anthony Jerome Clark on the 700 block of Langston Terrace, NE.

A reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this homicide or any other homicide in Washington, D.C.

Document: Man and Woman Fatally Shot on Galveston Street, SW

The Metropolitan Police Department reports that a man and a woman were fatally shot May 26 on the unit block of Galveston Street, SW.

The female victim has been identified as 35-year-old Venius Badgett. The male victim is 40-year-old Jaquon Helm.

Up to a $25,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this homicide or any other homicide in D.C.

Judge Grants Delay for Murder Trial to Mental Health Records

The trial of two people accused of murder was recently delayed to give defense counsel time to examine mental health records.

Antonio Brown and Amanda Turner are charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Charles Antonio Welch on the 1800 block of Harvard Street, NW in 2015.

Defense counsel said they will need time to review mental health records to determine the kinds of experts they would need to call. The defense also said they would need to determine the availability of experts.

According to documents, the Metropolitan Police Department reported that Turner and Welch had an ongoing feud. A witness reported to have seen Brown shoot Welch.

Surveillance footage shows a woman, who looks similar to Turner, waiting in the driver’s seat of a nearby car during the incident. Turner and Brown were said to be romantically involved at the time of the shooting.

Before Turner was charged, she apparently tried to bribe witnesses with crack so they wouldn’t cooperate with the homicide investigation.

Brown pled not guilty to the murder and is being held without bail. Despite being charged with the same crime, Turner was released under the High Intensity Supervision Program.

Another trial readiness hearing scheduled on May 31 with DC Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna. The trial is currently scheduled for June 4.

Defendant Pleads Not Guilty to Traffic Fatality

The passenger in this 2017 traffic collision died. The driver is being charged with second-degree murder.

During his arraignment, a man pled not guilty to second-degree murder for allegedly killing a woman when he drove into a Hess gas station pole while under the influence.

Lavonne Beckett allegedly told police that he smoked a PCP-laced cigarette on August 5, 2017, during a stop in Maryland. His car later hit a pole on the 600 block of Florida Ave., NE.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, a bystander pulled Beckett out of his car, which caught on fire. Fire crews also activated an emergency fuel cutoff to secure the scene. His passenger, Tanisha Ray, age unknown, died at the scene.

He is currently released through the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP). Beckett was placed on HISP in January.

The prosecution said they planned to submit a plea offer that would allow Beckett to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Beckett’s defense attorney, Craig Hickein, requested Beckett’s next status hearing be held in four weeks. Hickein said he needed more time to review discovery materials provided by the prosecution.

Beckett’s next status hearing is set for June 26.

Document: Arrest Made in Homicide on 2nd Street NE

The Metropolitan Police Department arrested 18 year-old Kurt Hewitt and 16 year-old Demonte Hewitt, charging them with the death of 16 year-old Tyshon Perry.

According to police, the suspects are cousins. Both have been charged with second-degree murder while armed. Both teens will be charged as adults.

Perry was allegedly stabbed in an after school fight on May 1 on the 1300 block of 2nd Street, NE, located near the NOMA-Gallaudet metro station. Apparently the fight was sparked from an earlier incident at KIPP DC College Preparatory, a charter high school in Northeast DC.

According to news reports, Perry attended KIPP, but his assailants did not. The fight occurred near the metro station, which was less than a mile from the school.

A video from the press conference can be seen, here.

Prosecution Requests DNA Testing in Murder Case

The prosecution in a murder trial requested the defendant undergo DNA testing. A test was not administered during his arrest.

The defendant, Matthew Moore, is accused of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Ronnell Reaves. Reaves, 22, was found, by officers from the Metropolitan Police Department, with a bullet wound to the head. Apparently, Reaves was sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2015 Kia Optima on the 600 block of 14th Place, NE. Another person, who was seated in the car’s passenger seat, was also shot. The passenger survived.

Moore, 33, initially claimed that he shot Reaves in self defense after Reaves attempted to coerce him into robbing a restaurant. But, surveillance footage of the incident contradicts Moore’s version of the events that happened between the two that night, the prosecution said.

Moore was arrested in Forestville, Md. on Jan. 26, 2017. He was apparently staying with his sister.

Detectives recovered a semi-automatic handgun and Smith & Wesson cartridges at Moore’s sister’s apartment. The cartridges match the shell casings found at the scene of the murder.

A status hearing is scheduled for June 12.

Defendant Asks for Separate Trial After Being Attacked

A murder defendant asked to have his case separated from his co-defendants’ cases after he was attacked.

The defendant, Jonathan Taylor, who wore a neck brace in court and struggled to make his way to the bench, was allegedly attacked by one of his co-defendants, his defense attorneys said. They said Taylor’s spine had been fractured.

Taylor is charged with second-degree murder along with Shakim Lyons, Harry James Herbert and James Coffield. The four men are accused of the alleged shooting of Dwayne Gene Dillard on July 4, 2015, on the 2600 block of Douglass Place SE.

In the aftermath of the homicide, in which an altercation between two groups of individuals escalated into a gun battle, Lyons, 28, arrived at an area hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound in his right eye. A witness said Lyons and Taylor were on opposite sides of the shootout. The witness also said Herbert, 29, was firing at Taylor and another person on his side of the fight.

When the prosecution asked who the attacker was, one of Taylor’s defense attorneys responded “Lyons.”

The defense said they would file a motion for severance, so Taylor and his current co-defendants can have separate trials.

Taylor has already been found guilty for the murder of Dexter Motley in 2014. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for 28-year-old Motley’s murder.

Taylor has a trial readiness hearing scheduled for May 25. The jury trial is scheduled to begin on July 9.

Nephew’s Murder Linked to Uncle’s Homicide, Prosecutors Say

After testifying at his uncle’s trial, a witness was allegedly shot and killed as retribution, prosecutors told a judge during a trial readiness hearing.

Three months after Adam Barker’s death, according to a witness, there had been people in the Woodland area, located in Southeast DC, looking to kill others, who connected Paul Swann and Traveous Brown to the homicide of Barker’s uncle Simwone K Milstead. The defendants were found not guilty in the Milstead homicide.

“Good thing I’m in jail or they’d have tried to kill me too,” Barker, 21, told witnesses while he was being held in 2014 for second-degree theft, which was not related to the homicide of his uncle.

Barker was killed on the 2700 block of Langston Place, SE in 2016. Milstead was killed on the same block in 2014.

Defense attorneys for Swann and Brown, who, at the time of arrest, were 27 and 24, respectively, requested May 18 to receive grand jury transcripts, police reports and clearer photos of weapons and casings. The attorneys requested that all evidence be available by May 26.

The defendants are charged with first-degree murder while armed and illegal possession of firearms by felons.

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Ronna L. Beck said she will revisit the case on May 24.

Counsel Debate Using Eyewitness Testimony on Homicide

A debate sparked May 21 over whether the prosecution would be able to call an eyewitness of a fatal shooting to the stand.

The prosecution said they want to use the witness to possibly understand what happened during the time of the shooting. However, because of the witness’ fifth amendment right, the witness may not help either side get any closer to showing the jury what happened. The prosecution also requested additional time to collect more evidence.

Hakeem Burroughs is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Jarell Walker on the 300 block of Hayes Street, NE on June 2, 2016.

The defense argued the witness, who was chosen by the prosecution, could not be cross-examined. On the crime scene, the witness exercised his right to remain silent and initially withheld information from authorities.

During the status hearing District of Columbia Superior Judge Danya Dayson delayed the trial date until April 15, 2019.

“Potentially, we’re continuing this trial to next year for someone they don’t even know they would call,” the defense said. This is “one last Hail Mary for the books.”

Burroughs is scheduled for another status hearing on July 27.

Murder Suspect Waives Right to Preliminary Hearing

A murder suspect recently waived his rights to dispute the prosecution’s evidence against him.

John Jabar McRae, 40, waived his right May 15 to a preliminary hearing in exchange for early discovery related to his second-degree murder trial.

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe reviewed the rights that McRae was giving up by forfeiting his preliminary hearing. He then set a felony status conference on June 25.

McRae is accused of allegedly killing Marty McMillan on April 23, 2017.

Apparently, McMillan, 22, and one of the women McRae was in a relationship with, were having sex at his apartment on the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE. According to court documents, McRae walked in the apartment almost directly after the two finished having sex.

Court documents also state that McMillan and the woman met on Plenty of Fish (pof.com), a dating website.

The felony status conference will be coordinated with another court appearance McRae will make on the same day for a misdemeanor simple assault.

Check back with D.C. Witness to get updates on this and other homicide cases in the District of Columbia.

Mom Says Counsel Forced Son to Take Guilty Plea

A mother, whose son was convicted of first-degree murder, recently told D.C. Witness about the unlawful neglect and judicial injustice her son was subject to as his case underwent court proceedings.

Robin Michelle Bell said May 18 that counsel neglected her son’s mental and physical health to coerce him into pleading guilty to first-degree murder while armed.

Bell’s son, David Joshua Bright, was convicted for the shooting deaths of Clifton David Francis and David Aumon Watkins, Jr. The homicides occurred in a group home on the 500 block of 58th Street, NE in 2016. The plea deal carries a sentence of 33 years in prison, after which Bright will be required to serve five additional years on supervised release.

The sentencing was delayed until June 8 because Bright’s attorney, Dominique Winters, was not present. Winters did not respond to D.C. Witness inquires about Bell’s accusations.

However, in the hallway outside the courtroom, Bell showed D.C. Witness a black and white photo of a man standing next to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“This is my father, the honorable Dr. Roy Charles Bell,” Bell said. “A civil rights advocate that advocated for medical rights across prisons in this country and filed a federal lawsuit that ended segregation in Grady Hospital (Atlanta, Georgia) and nationwide. This is where we come from… I was without a father so he could fight this, and now his grandson is treated worse than a dog.”

Bell said her son suffered abuse while staying in the mental health ward at the DC jail.

She also said the ward deprived inmates of water to control their behavior. She said Bright was denied water for three days, which resulted in an asthma attack. According to Keena Blackmon, public information officer at DC Jail, the DC Department of Corrections does not withhold water to control inmate behavior.

In addition to depriving Bright of water, Bell said she believes Bright was beaten by jail guards and that his property, including legal documents and a Bible, were stolen from his cell.

Bell said the beating was responsible for one of Bright’s several suicide attempts while at the jail. Apparently, Bright has attempted to kill himself five times by swallowing C-sized batteries.

“Why is it normal for a grown man to be in a cage… Naked on a cold floor in December? Why is that normal? That’s not normal,” Bell said. “That’s not supposed to happen here in DC. That’s not supposed to happen in this country.”

Bell said the plea was negotiated while her son was undergoing surgeries to have the batteries removed.

Furthermore, she said she believes her son’s mistreatment came as a result of her writing a letter to D.C. Superior Court Judge Jose Lopez about Bright’s autism. In the letter, Bell said she believed the court was trying to keep her son’s autism a secret.

Bell said she also believes her son’s case was neglected as retribution for speaking at a Department of Corrections oversight hearing that she was invited to by DC Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety.

Bell also told D.C. Witness about the rushed and unprofessional nature court officials and attorneys displayed toward her son’s case.

“The attorney said, ‘I don’t know the case, I don’t have the file,” said Bell. “The judge’s attitude was unusual. ‘No, I wanna get this over with.’ That’s what they’ve been saying. That’s been the undercurrent this whole time.”

Even though D.C. Superior Court Judge Ronna Beck delayed the sentencing until June, she still allowed the victims’ families to give statements.

“It was the worst day of my life,” Watkin’s mother told the judge. “I’ll never hear him again. I’ll never hear his voice… I can honestly tell you I had the best children in the world… David didn’t deserve this. He was too good of a kid.”

Patricia Nelson contributed to this article.

Defense Motions to Suppress Suspect’s Statement to Police

A District of Columbia Superior Court judge is considering the defense’s motion to have a murder defendant’s statement suppressed because he was under the influence of morphine when he spoke to officers at the Metropolitan Police Department.

Glover’s defense attorney argued that his state of mind during the interview made his statement about the homicide involuntary. According to the prosecution’s documents, Willie Glover was “fading in and out” near the end of his initial interview with police.

Judge Craig Iscoe said he would need to hear from other witnesses, who could testify to how Glover, 40, appeared, when he made the statement.

Glover, Joseph Barbour, 38, and Charles McRae,66, allegedly stabbed Lenard Wills on Dec. 21, 2015. The men are charged with first-degree murder while armed.

A witness said the three men entered an apartment on the 700 block of 24th street, NE wearing masks and brandishing guns. The witness also said the men had a physical altercation with Wills.

Wills, 50, was discovered at the apartment by police and later died at the hospital. After finding Wills, police followed a bloody trail to a knife in a trash can, according to court documents.

Glover, who suffered from stab wounds after the altercation, initially told medical staff at Prince George’s County hospital that he had been robbed.

But, during his interview with police, Glover eventually admitted he had been stabbed in the apartment where Wills was killed. Witnesses have not given consistent statements on whether drugs were sold out of the apartment.

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 11.

Get updates on the case at D.C. Witness.

Document: Homicide on Capitol Ave, NE

During the morning on May 20, the Metropolitan Police Department responded to reports of gunshots on the 1900 block of Capitol Avenue, NE.

Police found 43-year-old Edward Ferrell. He did not show any signs consistent with life. The decedent remained on the scene until being transported to the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office, where his death was ruled a homicide.

A reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction for this homicide or any other homicide in D.C.

Updates on this homicide and other homicides in the District are available on dcwitness.org.

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