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By
Adriana Marroquin
- October 11, 2024
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Suspects
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Victims
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A homicide defendant accepted a pre-preliminary hearing plea deal extended by prosecutors before DC Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe on Oct. 11.
Chanos Monroe, also known as Chanos Marcus Gillis, 42, was originally charged with first-degree murder while armed for his involvement in the fatal beating of 52-year-old Keith Sistare on July 27, 2022 on the 4400 block of Benning Road, NE. Sistare succumbed to his injuries on Sept. 11, 2022.
During the hearing, Shawn Sukumar, Monroe’s attorney, alerted the court of his intent to waive his preliminary hearing rights and accept a plea deal. According to Sukumar, the deal required Monroe to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict, in exchange for the prosecution not seeking an indictment.
Through the deal, parties agreed to a sentence of 14 years of imprisonment.
According to the prosecution, had the case gone to trial, they’d have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Monroe, his fiancee, and another individual were at a BP Gas station at the time of the incident. Sistare attempted to go into the driver’s seat of a vehicle, and when he realized Monroe’s fiancee was still in the vehicle, he attempted to flee.
The prosecutor added that Monroe and his friend exited the gas station and assaulted Sistare, stomping his head multiple times, before Monroe retrieved a firearm from his vehicle. Monroe, his fiancee and companion fled the scene.
According to the prosecutor, Sistare remained unresponsive, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland (OCMEMD) ruled the manner of death a homicide, caused by complications with blunt force trauma from stomps to the head.
Sistare’s daughter delivered a statement to Judge O’Keefe, despite Sukumar’s objections.
“I feel like you did some bi**h a** sh**,” the daughter told Monroe, adding “My father suffered… you broke every bone in my dad’s face.”
“I don’t know if he knew I was there taking care of him,” Sistare’s daughter stated, ruminating about her time as his caregiver following the attack.
“You left him for dead,” she told Monroe, adding “I was there every day, until his last breath.”
“He ain’t deserved that,” Sistare’s daughter insisted, adding “My father was somebody.”
Parties are slated to reconvene Dec. 17 for sentencing.