A jury yesterday convicted D.C. resident Marcus C. Silver of manslaughter while armed in the shooting death of 26-year-old Shadawnchea Gardner in the unit block of Hawaii Avenue NE on March 10, 2010.
Silver, 30, is expected in court April 22 for sentencing.
According to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office,
According to the government’s evidence, members of the Fourth District of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) were called about 7:40 p.m. on March 10, 2010 to the unit block of Hawaii Avenue NE. Upon arrival, they found the victim, Shadawnchea Gardner, 26, outside an apartment building. He was suffering from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, and died later that night.
An investigation revealed that Gardner had accompanied Silver’s ex-girlfriend and another woman to Hawaii Avenue that evening to get a video game from Silver. The ex-girlfriend got into a physical altercation at the scene with Silver’s current girlfriend. While Gardner was trying to separate the women, Silver walked up to him and shot him in the head. Silver also fired at his ex-girlfriend, who was not injured. He then fled the scene.At approximately 12:45 a.m. on March 11, 2010, the defendant was observed drinking in a public building in the 1300 block of Fort Stevens Drive NW. He was recognized to be the individual who was being sought in the shooting on Hawaii Avenue and subsequently arrested.
Subsequently, two pistols were recovered from under a vehicle near the Hawaii Avenue address. One, a .25 caliber semi-automatic, was identified as the murder weapon. A witness also had observed a man matching the description of the defendant placing something in the area where the guns were found shortly after the shooting.
Silver was presented with a first-degree murder charge in the case at his first court appearance. Charging documents in the case are below.
