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By
John Battistelli
- April 11, 2025
Carjacking
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Court
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Daily Stories
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Suspects
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Prosecutors said they have surveillance video, eyewitness testimony and DNA evidence establishing a suspect identified as “Fat Boy” as a carjacker. The case was argued in DC Superior Court Judge Deborah Israel’s courtroom on April 9.
Devonte Carter, 30, is charged with armed carjacking and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for his alleged involvement in an incident on the 1400 block of Cedar Street, SE on July 10, 2024.
According to court documents, a Door Dash driver had just completed a delivery on a scooter when he was cut off by a black car and a suspect emerged with a gun. A second suspect identified as “Fat Boy” came out of the car and snatched the scooter key from the victim’s neck and drove away on the vehicle described as a gray Taizhou with a 150 cc engine. It was later recovered by police.
The first suspect was not identified.
A prosecution analyst said Carter was the person depicted by a red circle in surveillance footage and the video showed him riding the stolen vehicle to an apartment complex and parking it there. The prosecutor says Carter and “Fat Boy” are one and the same person based on identification by a witness.
Carter’s attorney, Gregg Baron pointed out gaps in footage which the analyst said was a camera issue.
Given the gaps, Baron asked another officer if he could confirm it was the same man who took the vehicle as the one later seen using it. He noted that with incidents like this, it is common for a stolen vehicle to be passed around many times before being recovered.
The prosecution also called a DNA analyst who compared the results of the tested evidence including four swabs from the recovered vehicle and two reference samples – one for Carter and one for the victim. The analysis said there’s a high likelihood that the vehicle has DNA from both men.
A former neighbor of Carter’s in an apartment complex a few blocks from the scene told the jury she interacts regularly with her neighbors. She was familiar with Carter’s appearance since he and his mother lived there about ten years ago and still occasionally keeps in contact with his mother. She recalled seeing Carter in the building the day of the carjacking and allowed him to wash his hands in her apartment, but wasn’t present when he left.
The prosecution rested.
Parties are slated to reconvene on April 10.