Mental health experts have found Leon Allen Smith competent to stand trial for the stabbing death of Stephan Manuel Pool, despite Smith’s insistence that he suffers hallucinations, nightmares and paranoia.
According to a recent mental health report, Smith remains largely evasive, dismissive and uncooperative with all clinical assessments. His treatment team, though, has not observed any behaviors consistent with Smith’s reported symptoms. Evaluators believe Smith is feigning incompetence to avoid prosecution.
At a hearing Friday, Madalyn Harvey, Smith’s defense attorney, said she may contest the finding of competence.
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Each week, Homicide Watch brings you a list of upcoming hearings in the cases we follow. All hearings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. unless otherwise noted. To add an item to the listing, email homicidewatchdc [at] gmail.com. To see scheduled court hearings beyond next week, see our calendar.
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Judge William Jackson sentenced Antoine McCullough to two years probation Friday in connection with the 2010 kidnapping and death of 18-year-old Latisha Frazier.
McCullough, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy tampering with evidence after admitting to police that he helped dispose of Frazier’s body.
“I just want to apologize to everybody involved in the situation because nobody should have to go through this,” McCullough said at his sentencing hearing Friday.
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A shooting Friday morning left 36-year-old Mikey Ledbetter dead.
Police found Ledbetter, of Southeast D.C., suffering from an apparent gunshot wound around 5:29 a.m. He died at a local hospital.
Melvin Quick, 27 and also from Southeast, was arrested at 1:40 p.m. on suspicion of first-degree murder.
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Marc Emilio Dancy, the DC firefighter killed in January 2011, may have been involved in an affair with the wife of the man accused of killing him.
That’s according to charging documents made public Friday at the suspect’s first court appearance.
The suspect, Melvin Lamond Linkins, was presented with a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the case. Judge Karen Howze ruled that there was enough evidence to hold him pending a preliminary hearing.
Dancy was found dead in the vestibule of an apartment building in the 3000 block of 7th Street Northeast on January 23, 2011, at about 8:00 a.m.
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Jermaine Brown appeared in D.C. Superior Court Friday where Judge Karen Howze found probable cause that he killed 31-year-old Randolph Scott Harris Jr.
Charging documents say a bag of iPhones and other gadgets tie Brown to Harris’ death.
Harris was found burned and shot around 6:00 a.m. July 26 inside his apartment in the 1000 block of Euclid Street Northwest. An initial report from MPD said that Harris’ silver Mercedes was missing.
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Judge Lynn Leibovitz sentenced Rashid Caviness-Bey Friday to 27 years in prison in connection with the shooting death of 19-year-old Osman Al-Akbar.
Al-Akbar’s mother, Abdul Al-Akbar, spoke at the sentencing hearing and said that her son’s death occurred four months before he was set to graduate from the Building for the Future Academy. His goals, she said, were to attend college at Virginia State and play basketball.
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A Northwest D.C. man has been arrested in connection with the death of 31-year-old Randolph Scott Harris Jr.
Harris was found last week inside an apartment in the 1000 block of Euclid Street Northwest suffering from burns and gunshot wounds.
Jermaine Brown, 34, was arrested Thursday on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with Harris’ death by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force.
A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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Deon Jefferson pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter and armed robbery in connection with the 2012 stabbing death of 18-year-old Olijawon Griffin. Jefferson is scheduled to be sentenced December 13.
Griffin was stabbed and killed in the Woodley Park Metro station Nov. 17, 2012. A grand jury has indicted seven teens in the case: Jefferson, Muquan Cawthorne, Isaiah Gant, Gary Maye, Immanuel Swann, Greg Whittaker and Chavez Tyrek Myers. Two unidentified juveniles pled guilty in connection with the case in March.
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Before Latisha Frazier was killed, she and the defendants charged with her death were friends. They hung out, and she brought them McDonald’s. But that was before Frazier was kidnapped. Punched. Stomped. Taped up. Gagged. Choked. And killed.
On Thursday, one of those friends, Johnnie Sweet, was sentenced for his role in the attack. His punishment: 52 years in prison.
“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it; I’m not gonna lie,” Sweet said Thursday at his sentencing hearing. “I was wrong.”
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