Preliminary hearing set for stabbing suspect

The man accused of fatally stabbing 52-year-old Andre Butler is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on March 22.

Fredrick Lorenzo Nowlin, Jr., 35, was charged with second-degree murder while armed. The stabbing occurred on the 900 Block of Mount Olivet Road, NE. Butler was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Assistant United States Attorney Damien Diggs requested the hearing be pushed to April 9, but Nowlin asserted his right to have a preliminary hearing within 14 days of being charged with the crime.

Diggs said that another prosecutor may be present at the hearing since he has other matters on his calendar.

Police arrest suspect in 1-year-old’s homicide

On April 3, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested 28 year-old Faneshia Scott for the alleged murder of 1-year-old Rhythm Fields. Fields died from blunt force trauma on Jan. 29.

Scott is charged with first-degree murder.

Trial date set for man accused of killing girlfriend

The man charged with fatally shooting Yolanda Stone is scheduled for a new trial date.

Along with the new date on Jan. 28, 2019, attorney Joseph Caleb also joined Cook’s defense team as co-counsel.

Reynaud Cook, 34, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for shooting his girlfriend on the 3300 block of Alden Place, NE on Feb. 15. 2012.

Members of the Metropolitan Police Department found Stone, 30, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Stone died three months later on May 20, 2012 at a local hospital.

Cook was arrested in Pennsylvania on May 10, 2013, for unrelated charges. Two weeks later, he was transferred to D.C. and charged with Stone’s murder.

Prosecutors said Cook shot Stone in front of their children. He is also charged with first-degree cruelty to children, second-degree cruelty to children, weapons offenses and contempt of court for violating a civil protection order.

Cook was also found guilty of second-degree murder while armed in July 2017, along with Don Hancock, for the July 2007 homicide of Nacarto Gladden.

A status hearing is scheduled for July 13.

Document: Congress St. SE homicide

On March 31, members of the Metropolitan Police Department found Jamar Bowman, 29, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the 700 block of Congress Street, SE. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police are currently investigating the homicide. A reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide committed in D.C.

Document: 9th Street NE homicide

On March 31, the Metropolitan Police Department found Tamiya White, 38, suffering from an apparent stab wound on the 1900 block of 9th Street, NE. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police are currently investigating the death.

Document: suspect sought in Oakwood St., SE homicide

The Metropolitan Police Department is searching for a suspect in connection to the fatally stabbing of Maria Antoinette Evans, 52, on the 500 Block of Oakwood Street, SE on March 29.

A video of the suspect can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/pGDNHjIgWY4.

2014 murder defendant confesses to shooting

On March 29, nine days after a 2014 murder trial began, one of the defendants said he shot Willard Carlos Shelton in self defense.

James Young and Tyrone Height are charged with the alleged shooting death of Shelton on Aug. 31, 2014, in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road, SE. Young, 25, and Height, 25, are charged with first-degree murder among other charges.

“The truth is I did it,” Young said. “Back in 2014, I didn’t want that to get out at all.” He said he didn’t initially claim self defense because he did not know it was legal in Washington, D.C.

Young admitted to lying to the Metropolitan Police Department, a judge who previously presided over the case and the prosecution.

“Me knowing that a life was taken and I was responsible…I wasn’t trying to tell the truth,” he said. Young told the jury that he decided March 29 that it was time to finally tell the truth.

However, the prosecution insisted that Young waited so long to claim self defense because he did not shoot Shelton to defend himself, suggesting that Young’s statements to the jury were also lies. The prosecution is charging Young and Height with robbery and burglary while armed.

So, what happened?

According to Young, he owed Shelton $150 for a shotgun. On the morning of the homicide, Shelton came to collect, but Young said he didn’t have the money. He offered to give Shelton $150 worth of PCP, a drug Shelton was known for using, but he said Shelton grabbed him and wielded a .22 caliber revolver before he could get the drugs.

Young said he pistol whipped Shelton with a gun he was carrying and ran off. He said the two shot at one another while he was running through the parking lot. Young said one of his bullets struck Shelton.

Young said he ran into a woman’s apartment. According to Young, the two had a close relationship and he considered her as his grandmother. They are not related.

However, the woman testified that she had never seen Young before that day. Young told the jury that the woman lied on the stand because she testified to knowing a person named Dink, which, Young said, was one of his nicknames.

When Young left the woman’s apartment, he said he saw Shelton lying on the ground. Young told the jury Shelton was still alive when he took his gun, keys and wallet.

A DNA expert testified March 28 that the revolver contained DNA from at least two people with at least one of those people being male. However, the expert said there was not an efficient amount of DNA on the revolver to determine who held the gun.

Trial nears end

Height decided to not testify.

The trial is expected to continue on April 2 with the prosecution presenting more evidence and closing arguments.

Document: Woman Fatally Stabbed in SE D.C.

On March 29, the Metropolitan Police Department discovered a woman suffering from apparent stab wounds on the 500 Block of Oakwood Street, SE. The woman was declared dead at a local hospital.

The police department is waiting to notify the decedent’s family before releasing her name.

A reward is available for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide committed in D.C.

Will 2014 murder trial continue?

After seven days of arguments from the prosecution, the outcome of continuing a murder trial became uncertain when a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department incriminated the defendants during his testimony about an eyewitness.

James Young and Tyrone Height have been charged with first-degree murder while armed, felony murder while armed and other charges, including obstruction of justice, in the shooting death of Willard Carlos Shelton, 38, on Aug. 31, 2014. The homicide occurred on the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road, SE. Young, 24, and Height, 25, were apprehended on Sept. 3, 2014.

The officer testified March 27 to why an eyewitness in the case ended up staying in temporary housing, supplied by the MPD, for an extended period of time.

“We learned about a possible threat on [the witnesses] life,” the officer told the jury in response to the prosecution’s question.

Defense attorneys Joseph Caleb, Height’s lawyer, and Ferris Bond, Young’s lawyer, objected to the statement because they said they believed it unfairly accused their clients of the same behavior the young men were already on trial for.

As a plausible solution, Judge Milton Lee gave the prosecution and the defense an opportunity to write a cautionary instruction for the jury so they would not acknowledge the statement.

However, the defense stressed that an instruction could not remedy the situation. The defense requested that Judge Lee order a mistrial because the statement placed bias on the jury to favor a guilty verdict.

Judge Lee said he will decide if he will give the jury a cautionary instruction or call a mistrial on March 28.

On March 28, Judge Lee ruled that the trial would continue. He also ruled that special instruction on the detective’s testimony would not be given to the jury per the defense’s request.

Defendants have probable cause in Maleak Coffin’s homicide, Judge says

After considering several factors, including a fatal shooting during the daylight hours and an active dispute between young men in differing neighborhoods, a superior court judge found both defendants charged with the alleged murder of Maleak Coffin to have substantial probable cause.

Robert Washington and Derrick Hart are charged with first-degree murder while armed in the 2017 shooting. Judge Judith Bartnoff ordered March 26 that the men be held without bail while they wait for a Grand Jury trial.

Two days before Christmas, Coffin, 22, was found suffering from two gunshot wounds to the left temple and shoulder on the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Avenue, SE. He was declared dead three days later at George Washington University Hospital. A Metropolitan Police Department detective said there were rumors that the homicide was a retaliatory act from an earlier shooting a few nights before.

According to testimony from the detective, the shooting allegedly occurred after several young men parted ways at a mini-mart located on Martin Luther King Avenue, SE. Hart, 22, was captured by a surveillance camera running down an ally with a gun and shooting at a vehicle that was stopped at a gas station. The vehicle stopped in an ally behind the gas station.

Washington, 20, who was driving in the opposite direction, made a U-turn after the initial shots and drove up to the vehicle in the ally. A surveillance camera captures Washington’s car slow down in front of the stopped vehicle. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, additional shots were fired at the vehicle, but the video does not show any shots coming from Washington’s car.

Police found 21 shell casings from two different guns — a large caliber gun and a 9 millimeter gun.

Washington was arrested on traffic charges days later. A 9 millimeter, matching the casings found at the crime scene, was recovered close to where Washington was arrested. Police have not recovered the large caliber gun.

The defense argued several points to both Hart and Washington’s separate interests.

Hart’s attorney, Jonathan Zucker, argued an imperfect self defense on his client’s behalf. He said Hart had reason to fear for his life because Coffin was armed and driving a stolen vehicle. According to defense counsel, most drive-by shootings occur from stolen vehicles.

However, Judge Bartnoff refuted Zucker’s argument, referencing that Hart was walking away from the gas station before he decided to run back and allegedly shoot Coffin.

Washington’s attorneys disagreed with the prosecution’s inference that he was working with Hart to “ambush” Coffin. However, the judge’s ruling stemmed from Washington changing directions to drive to the scene and allegedly shoot another round of bullets at Coffin’s car.

A felony status hearing is scheduled for May 11.

Document: Good Hope Rd. SE Homicide

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.

Document: Homicide on Raynolds Place

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.

Document: Arrest made in Mount Olivet homicide

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.

Document: Florida Ave. NE Homicide

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.

Convicted murderer appeals verdict, says he was in Md.

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.

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