In brief:
Four homicides were recorded in DC this week:
- Douglas Farley, a man who was set on fire in Southeast Washington last week, died as a result of his injuries. Shawn Lewis has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Farley’s death.
- Marvin Harvey, 23, was fatally stabbed in Northeast DC Wednesday afternoon; 22-year-old Asia Dontrese Moore has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the case.
- Howard University student Omar Sykes, 22, was fatally shot Thursday in what is believed to have been a robbery attempt on Sykes and another man. That man was beaten. No arrests have been announced in connection with the case.
- Christopher Ballard, 38, of Southeast D.C, was fatally shot early Saturday morning at the intersection of 53rd and E Streets Southeast at 2:14 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Wesley Monroe, 21, of Northeast D.C, was arrested in connection with the June 22 shooting death of 28-year-old Quentin White. White was found in the 3500 block of East Capitol Street Southeast suffering from a gunshot wound; he later died at a local hospital.
Davon Holmes was found guilty of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the death of 24-year-old Marcellus Bailey. Bailey was stabbed near the corner of 8th Street and Jefferson Street Northwest on August 3, 2011. He was discovered by police around 2:45 a.m., injured and bleeding profusely from his neck; he later died at Washington Hospital Center.
Three days before the verdict was reached, while the trial was still underway, a testifying witness died following a fight. Metropolitan police are conducting a death investigation in the case and have not declared the death a homicide. MPD Chief Cathy Lanier said the cases were “unrelated.”
Herbert Hayes‘ murder trial began this week with prosecutors arguing that Hayes stabbed John Wesley Griffin four times “with precision,” ran away, then “boasted” about it on his cellphone to a friend and to his ex-wife. Russell Hairston, Hayes’ defense attorney, called the government’s evidence “lacking” and told jurors that in the course of the trial no witness will testify that Hayes harmed Griffin.
