In 2012, Washington D.C. ranked eighth in murders per capita in cities populated with 500,000 or more residents, according to data submitted by cities and released by the FBI earlier this month.
The Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, a yearly breakdown of crime statistics provided by law enforcement agencies across the country, did not include D.C. crime numbers from 2012.
Spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said in an email that MPD was unable to provide the FBI preliminary crime statistics from last year because the department was transitioning to a new data entry system. In previous years, MPD has regularly provided crime statistics to the FBI, Crump said.
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In brief:
Lawrence David Phillips was shot Tuesday in the 400 block of 18th Street Northeast; he later died at the hospital.
Mauda’Rico Proctor was arrested and held on suspicion of felony murder in connection with the January shooting death of Dominic Davis.
A jury found Ronald Page guilty of second-degree murder while armed and related weapons offenses in connection with the shooting death of his step-son, Nicholas Ray Satcher.
Mark Anthony Coates was arrested and held on a charge of first-degree murder while armed in connection with the 2011 murder of Leroy Studevant.
Prosecutors in the murder trial against Marvin Palencia argued that he shot and killed Jacobo Vazquez after learning that his wife and Vazquez were having an affair. Defense attorneys argued that Palencia acted in self-defense. Trial is scheduled to resume Monday in Judge John Ramsey Johnson’s courtroom.
William Faison pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of Jeffrey Covington.
Decordre Franklin pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter while armed in connection with the shooting death of Irving Jones Jr.
In a preliminary hearing Friday, prosecutors in the case against Jermaine Livingston argued that he assisted in the August 2011 shooting death of Antwain Henderson. Livingston’s defense attorney argued that Henderson was already dead when his client helped Anthony Campbell dispose of the body, and that Livingston merely acted as an accessory after the murder.
Allen Culver was arrested Friday on a charge of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of Robert Plight.
A Southeast D.C. man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of 31-year-old Robert Plight.
Police arrested Allen Culver, 24, Friday on a charge of second-degree murder while armed in connection with Plight’s death.
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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 John Ramsey Johnson found substantial probability Friday that Jermaine Livingston participated in the August 2011 shooting death of 34-year-old Antwain Henderson. Livingston, 41, is the latest of four suspects charged in connection with Henderson’s death; he remains held on a charge of second-degree murder while armed.
Charging documents in the case say Livingston helped move and hide Henderson’s body from police shortly after he was shot August 31, 2011. The preliminary hearing Friday centered around whether Henderson was alive when his body was dragged into a residential basement by Livingston and co-defendant Anthony Campbell.
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Decordre Franklin pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter while armed in connection with the shooting death of 33-year-old Irving Jones Jr. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors will not indict Franklin on any additional charges related to Jones’ death.
Police found Jones around 2 a.m. March 30 lying on a sidewalk near a playground in the 600 block of Edgewood Street Northeast suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He later died at MedStar Washington Hospital. Read more
Shelly left this Comment of the Day in memory of Rodney Ellis Gardner who was shot and killed in the 1600 block of 21st Place Southeast on June 5:
Rip Rodney you will truelly be missed I will miss your smile and your sense of humor as well as our school times together you will never be forgotten I love u always Love Shelly!!
The way prosecutors tell it, Marvin Palencia premeditated the murder of 36-year-old Jacobo Vazquez after learning that his wife and Vazquez were having an affair. But Palencia’s defense attorneys say their client acted in self-defense when he shot Vazquez on November 11, 2010.
Jurors heard these arguments Wednesday morning.
Palencia, 35, is charged with first-degree murder, evidence tampering, and related weapons offenses in connection with Vazquez’s death.
Vazquez’s body was found in a cardboard box wrapped with duct tape on the side of westbound I-70 in Maryland on November 16, 2010, five days after he went missing. Prosecutors allege Palencia shot Vazquez twice in the laundry room of a building in the 100 block of Constitution Avenue Northwest, a building where they both worked.
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William Faison pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of Jeffrey Covington; co-defendant Jeffrey Blount pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence in the case. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed all other charges.
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Judge Lori Parker found substantial probability Wednesday that Mark Anthony Coates participated in the strangulation death of 56-year-old Leroy Studevant. Coates, 28, who is the second suspect to be arrested in connection with Studevant’s death, has been held pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 28.
On December 31, 2011, around 7:30 a.m., Studevant was found dead in Marvin Gaye Park with a belt tied around his neck and three puncture wounds to his upper body; a broken knife blade lay underneath him. The next day, a medical examiner determined that Studevant’s cause of death was “strangulation associated with piercing blunt force trauma;” it was ruled the first homicide of 2012.
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