Prosecution Introduces Social Media Posts and Messages Between Co-Conspirators in Murder of 10-Year-Old Girl

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On the third day of trial for a multi-defendant murder and gang affiliation case, prosecutors introduced online messaging and video evidence for past crimes of the alleged co-conspirators to a jury in DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun’s courtroom on June 26.

Mark Price, 29, and Antonio Murchison, 31, are charged with first-degree murder while armed, five counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault knowingly while armed, seven counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy, and seven counts of criminal gang affiliation. The charges stem from their alleged involvement in a mass shooting on July 16, 2018, on the 5300 block of 53rd Street, NE in the Clay Terrace neighborhood. The incident left 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson dead and four other individuals with gunshot wounds.

A third co-defendant, Quanisha Ramsuer, 31, is charged with obstruction of justice in connection to the homicide.

Six other defendants were convicted in 2023 of charges from the Maliyah Wilson incident, including:

Marquell Cobbs, 22 – sentenced to serve 6 years in prison
Quentin Michals, 27 – sentenced to serve 40 years in prison
Gregory Taylor, 28 – sentenced to serve 65 years in prison
Qujuan Thomas, 25– sentenced to 68 years in prison
Darrise Jeffers, 24 – sentenced to serve 35 years in prison
Isaiah Murchison, 24 – sentenced to serve 60 years in prison

Price is also charged with first-degree murder while armed, two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, threat to injure or kidnap a person, four counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict and first-degree burglary while armed. These charges stemmed from his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 47-year-old Andre Hakim Young on July 30, 2018, on the 1500 block of 19th Street, NE.

The prosecution called on a custodian of records for Meta Platforms, Inc. the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The custodian identified several photographs, each believed to be related to the Wellington Park Crew, in relation to their Instagram usernames. These photographs were the same that Michals’ cousin used to identify the crew members during the June 25 hearing.

An MPD detective discussed multiple photos and videos, posted between June 2017 and January 2018, that were recovered during a search warrant of two crew affiliates’ – Saquan Williams, 23, and Quincy Garvin, 24 – Instagram accounts. All of the photos and videos featured an individual, identified as Garvin, holding different guns, ranging from small handguns to long guns and rifles.

The detective also went through a group direct message thread between some of the defendants and their alleged co-conspirators the custodian had previously identified. The messages contained numerous references to guns via slang terms such as “joint,” “ARP,” “glock 30,” and “drake.”

A later group message thread had messages informing the others that certain group members had been “bagged,” a slang term for “got” or “arrested.” It was not specified as to why, but it was noted that the arrests would have only been for one day.

Parties are scheduled to resume trial on June 27.

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