Homicide Watch D.C.

DC Metropolitan Police have released a surveillance video of three people wanted in connection with the September shooting death of Wayne Young.

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Joshua Mebane, who was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of killing D.C. taxi driver Quadar Muhammad, has been charged in a second murder, WJLA and the Associated Press report.
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A blossoming Internet romance between teenagers is believed to have been at the root of a deadly robbery that killed DC cab driver Quadar Muhammad in Northeast DC last week.

Muhammad was found dead Wednesday evening; his body was in a burning four-door Lincoln taxi. Police said that the car appeared to have run off the roadway and into a fence. An autopsy later determined that he had been shot in the head.

Police arrested Joshua Terrell Mebane and Linda Lee Bury, both 17, in connection with the case on Friday. According to charging documents, police believe the teens’ intent was to rob Muhammad.
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In brief:

Andre Jackson, 22, was found dead after a shooting early Sunday morning in the 300 block of Ridge Road Southeast. Police have not yet named a suspect in the shooting.

A body found near a burning car was ruled a homicide Friday, the Metropolitan Police Department announced. Two juveniles have been arrested in the case, but the victim’s name has not been released.

Keir Johnson and Lester Williams pleaded not guilty Friday to conspiracy, first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and several weapons charges. The two men were among seven named in an 80 count indictmentthat detailed five years of gang violence in Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and the U Street corridor.

Gary Niles Montgomery pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday. Montgomery is accused of first-degree murder while armed in the stabbing death

Gary Niles Montgomery pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday. Montgomery, 55, is accused of killing 23-year-old Japarker Deoni Jones in February. Prosecutors say Montgomery stabbed Jones in the head at a bus stop in the 4900 block of East Capitol Street Northeast and took her purse.

A jury found Dominique Bassil guilty of killing her boyfriend, Vance Harris III. They had deliberated for three full days before returning the verdict at about 11 a.m. Friday.

Arvel Wills, who is accused of killing his cousin Dewayne Wills in May, was considering a plea offer from prosecutors. The offer would reduce his charges from second-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter. Wills would also plead guilty to felony possession of a firearm as part of the deal.

Judge Thomas Motley found that there was “barely” probable cause to send a second-degree murder case against Lloyd Bright to a grand jury. Bright is accused of killing Darryl Eugene Sweet, Sr. in July. Prosecutors say Bright hit Sweet, but Bright’s attorney contended that Bright didn’t know the slap would kill the man.

Millions of Americans cast ballots in the nation’s presidential election Tuesday. Even inmates at the D.C. jail got in on the electoral action. The Associated Press reported that the District of Columbia is unusual among governments for actively encouraging its inmates to cast ballots. The AP reports that 88 voted at the jail this year of about 1,700 inmates.

Judge Thomas Motley turned down a request for a new trial for Corey Yates. Yates, convicted in August of second-degree murder in the death of Darrel Hendy, didn’t have a strong enough case that prosecutors kept evidence from his defense team that would have changed the jury’s mind, Motley said.

Keir Johnson and Lester Williams both pleaded not guilty today at their arraignment on charges of conspiracy, first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and several weapons charges.

Johnson and Jackson were among seven men named in an 80 count indictment that detailed five years of gang violence in Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and the U Street corridor. Among the crimes charged in the indictment is a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of Jamal Coates.
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A man found dead in or near a burning car in Northeast DC earlier this week has been declared the victim of homicide, though authorities are not yet releasing his identity.

MPD also announced Friday evening that two youths, one 17-year-old male and one “juvenile” female have been arrested in connection with the case and are charged with felony murder.
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Gary Niles Montgomery pleaded innocent Friday at his arraignment on a charge of first-degree murder while armed in the stabbing death of Japarker Deoni Jones.

Jones, 23, died on Feb. 2 from a stab wound to the face that penetrated her skull.

Montgomery, 55, was arrested in February after a witness told police that Montgomery was the man shown on a surveillance recording of the incident that aired on local news channels.
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Keith Alonzo Littlepage maintained that he was innocent Friday, even as Judge Thomas Motley sentenced him to 50 years behind bars.

Already 50 years old, the sentence likely means Littlepage will die in prison. If released, he would be required to spend five years under supervised release.

A jury convicted Littlepage in July of first-degree murder and felony murder for killing his one-time lover, Selina Knight, on March 4, 2011.
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Jurors today found Dominique Bassil guilty of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the stabbing death of her boyfriend, Vance Harris III.

Jurors deliberated for three full days before announcing their verdict at about 11 a.m. Friday.

The announcement was delivered to a courtroom silent but for Bassil’s tears.

“What about my baby?” Bassil cried, as her defense attorney, Madalyn Harvey, consoled her with her left arm around Bassil’s shoulders.
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Each Friday, 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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