During a status hearing on Sept. 7, defendant Marcus Isom, 44, accepted a plea offer from the prosecution.
Isom is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the stabbing of 67-year-old Michael Stover that occurred on Jan. 3, 2022, on the 500 Block of 55th Street, NE.
Before deciding, Isom and his attorney, Kevin Irving, requested some more time to deliberate the matter.
The prosecution explained that the deadline for the plea deal was Sept. 7 and that a decision needed to be made by the afternoon. They said that this case had “put the victim’s family through enough”. DC Superior Court Judge Okun allowed Isom and his attorney an hour for consideration.
Isom accepted the prosecution’s offer to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed in exchange for the dismissal of the second-degree murder charge and a shorter sentence. . The maximum penalty for voluntary manslaughter is 30 years in prison, according to the DC Superior Court Sentencing Commission’s Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines. Parties agreed to a sentence of 10 years for Isom.
“You are pleading guilty because you are in fact guilty,” Judge Okun said shortly after Isom accepted his plea offer.
Judge Okun scheduled the defendant to be sentenced on Dec. 6.
