In brief:
MPD identified 44-year-old Tracy McFadden as the victim of a fatal shooting Jan. 19, the city’s third of the year.
D.C. recorded its fourth homicide of the year Friday when 18-year-old Siobhan Nicole Lee, of Takoma Park, Md., was found dead in Northwest Washington. Police arrested 21-year-old Alexander D. Buckley Friday afternoon in connection with Lee’s death.
Derrell Bennett withdrew his guilty plea in the shooting death of Keith Banks Friday. Bennett entered the plea late last year, but told Judge Ronna Beck Friday that he did so to take advantage of the offer, not because he was guilty.
Jamar George pleaded innocent Friday to the charge of first-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of 20-year-old Ronnie Speight Jr.
Three murder trials began at D.C. Superior Court: Raymond Roseboro, on trial for the third time in the 2010 shooting death of Prince Okorie; Felicia Jones, who prosecutors say fatally stabbed Jodie Ward in Aug. 2011; and John David Bolton, who was arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting Christopher Fletcher at a 2011 neighborhood cookout.
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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Derrick Babb was sentenced today to five years in prison on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon for his participation in the June shooting death of 24-year-old J’Ron Brown.
At sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reagan Taylor told the court that prosecutors could not be certain that it was Babb who fatally shot Brown, and that the lesser crime of assault was more appropriate.
Of the gunshots related to Brown’s death, the first seven shots were not fired by Babb, Taylor explained.
“It’s true; we cannot say which bullet killed Mr. Brown,” Taylor said.
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A 21-year-old Northwest DC man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of 18-year-old Siobhan Lee, killed early Friday morning.
According to a press release from MPD, the suspect, Alexander D. Buckley, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree felony murder.
MPD’s press release is after the jump.
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Jamar George pleaded innocent Friday to the charge of first-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of 20-year-old Ronnie Speight Jr.
George, 25, also pleaded innocent to related weapons charges.
Speight was shot dead in an alley in Northeast D.C. in May 2011; an autopsy revealed a total of eleven gunshot wounds to his body. A crime scene investigation discovered eight 9mm cartridge casings and two strike marks, indicating that the shooter had stood over the top of Speight and fired down upon him.
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Paul Johnson was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday for his involvement in the 2007 shooting death of Gregory Edwards.
Johnson pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed in October. The eight-year sentence was agreed upon by attorneys and approved by Judge Ronna Beck Friday.
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Judge Ronna Beck granted a motion Friday to withdraw the guilty plea entered by Derrell Bennett last year.
Bennett pled guilty to second-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of Keith Banks in November.
Attorneys in the case agreed that 17 years in prison was the appropriate sentence for Bennett, who was scheduled to be sentenced Friday. The motion to withdraw the plea was filed last week. Beck scheduled Bennett’s new trial date for August 5.
According to the motion filed by defense attorney Brian McDaniel, Bennett entered his plea of guilty not because he was in fact guilty, but because he wished to take advantage of the negotiated plea offer.
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A woman found dead of a shooting in Northwest DC early Friday morning has been identified as 18-year-old Siohban Nicole Lee of Takoma Park, Md., MPD reports.
A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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A woman was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head in Northwest DC early this morning, Fox5, WJLA and WUSA report.
According to the reports, the woman was found at about 3:30 Friday morning. Streets in the area remained closed at 7:30 in the morning.
It is the fourth homicide of the year in DC.
News reports from the scene are after the jump.
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Prosecutors have dropped charges against murder suspect Marc Terrence Tapp, held for the killing of 19-year-old Jermaine Anderson, due to “witness issues,” according to court documents.
Judge Russell Canan signed an order releasing Tapp Dec. 18th, 2012.
Tapp, a YouTube rapper known as “Goo,” had spent about 19 months in D.C. jail since his Aug. 11, 2011 arrest.
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