Teenage Defendant to Serve 8.5 Years for Voluntary Manslaughter

By Will Lawrence [former] - July 21, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A defendant will serve eight-and-a-half years for a homicide he committed at 16-years-old.

Titus Iracks is convicted of voluntary manslaughter and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business in the shooting of 43-year-old Larry Harrell on June 13, 2018, on the 1200 block of Mount Olivet Road, NE.

Iracks, 19, was sentenced to eight-and-a half-years for the voluntary manslaughter charge and nine months for the carrying a pistol without a license charge. The sentences will run concurrently, and he will receive credit for time served.

The defendant pleaded guilty back in 2019, but the judge stayed the execution of the sentencing. He was allowed to stay in the custody of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to continue his education. He was able to take college classes while held at the Youth Services Center, a facility run by the DYRS, D.C. Witness previously reported. Iracks has since been transferred to the custody of the Department of Corrections, according to court documents.

In light of Iracks’ academic progress while held, defense attorney Ronald Resetarits asked Judge Danya Dayson to recommend that Iracks be placed somewhere he can take college courses during the July 21 hearing. He also asked her to recommend a facility that close enough to DC for him to have regular visits with his family.

Judge Dayson told Iracks that she hopes his time in prison will help him find something else to focus on and called his progress “quite remarkable.”

Harrell was shot while being robbed by Iracks and his 24-year-old co-defendant, Dearren Dawkins. Dawkins was sentenced to 9.5 years for his role in the homicide.

The two were initially charged with first-degree murder while armed in August 2018. They both agreed to plead down to voluntary manslaughter. Dawkins also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction while armed. 

Iracks’ additional charges of conspiracy while armed, attempt to commit robbery while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, robbery while armed and felony murder while armed were also dismissed as part of the plea deal.