Homicide Watch D.C.

A juvenile murder suspect has told the government that he, not Rashid Caviness-Bey, shot and killed 19-year-old Osman Al-Akbar near Meridian Hill Park in August.

According to a discovery letter filed at DC Superior Court in January, the juvenile told authorities that he and Caviness-Bey separated while walking down University Place the night Al-Akbar was killed. The juvenile did not tell Caviness-Bey what he was going to do, did not tell Caviness-Bey that he intended to commit a robbery, and did not know where Caviness-Bey was when he attempted to rob Al-Akbar.
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Murder suspect Albrecht Muth‘s latest notice to DC Superior Court indicated that he was fasting and refusing all medical treatment.
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In brief:

Andrew Williams, a Northeast DC man known as “Drew” and “Barbershop,” was ordered held on probable cause in the shooting death of Junon Snead.

Charging documents in the case against Christopher Williams, suspected in the alleged revenge robbery of Kevin Blackwell Jr., name a third man police say took part in the fatal stabbing. That person, Wayne Antwon Jackson, is not in custody. Williams and Harold Proctor are.

Christian Navarette-Rivas, the sixteen-year-old suspected of taking part in a gang melee in Petworth in October, has pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault in connection with the death of Miguel Drullard.

MPD released a video of a car believed to have picked up people responsible for fatally shooting Mico Briscoe in Novemeber in Northeast DC. Watch the video here.

Judge William Jackson found probable cause in the case against Jeffrey Mills, a DC man accused of beating Juan Paredes to death with a barbell in a busy Columbia Heights commercial area.

Dalontray Williams, a 19 year-old Northwest DC man died Thursday after being stabbed. Police were called to the Kennedy Recreation Center, about a block away, where they found Williams in the lobby.

Ronnell James, 39, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to a charge of second degree murder while armed, with aggravating circumstances, in 2007 NE DC slaying of Robert Beidleman Jr.

Steven Cephas was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the beating death of his girlfriend’s toddler, Dominic Dwayne Kingsbury Jr.

The Washington Times this week published an excellent report on DYRS, the prevalence of committed youths being victims or perpetrators of murder, and the community response.

Reports the Washington Times:

More than 50 D.C. youths in the custody of the city’s juvenile justice agency either have been killed or found guilty of killing someone else over the past five years — and the majority of them had been categorized in advance as posing a “high,” “high-medium” or “medium” risk of reoffending.
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The grief of Dominic Dwayne Kingsbury Jr.’s family was palpable Friday as, throughout the morning, Steven Cephas stood before them to be sentenced.

Their moans, sniffles, cries, and, once, angry words, permeated every corner of the courtroom, as they felt again the loss of their 20-month old son, grandson and nephew. He was brutally beaten to death while in Cephas’ care when his mother was at work.

Not even Cephas’ attorney, nor Judge William Jackson, were immune to the emotion.

“I’ve been on this bench nineteen years now,” said Jackson, his face appearing grim and gray above the judge’s robe. “Every time I’d thought I’d seen the worst case, I’d see another. This case is inexcusable. I tried my best to look for some mitigation here and I could find none.”
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From the US Attorney’s Office:

District Man Pleads Guilty to Murder In 2007 Slaying in Northeast Washington- Victim Was Slain Inside His Apartment -

WASHINGTON - Ronnell James, 39, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a charge of second degree murder while armed, with aggravating circumstances, in a slaying that took place in 2007 in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
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A 19 year-old Northwest DC man died Thursday after being stabbed. MPD identified him Friday as Dalontray Williams.

According to a press release, authorities believe Williams was stabbed in the 1500 block of Seventh Street, NW. Police were called to the Kennedy Recreation Center, about a block away, where they found Williams in the lobby.
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Judge William Jackson found probable cause today in the case against a DC man accused of beating Juan Paredes to death with a barbell in a busy Columbia Heights commercial area.

Jeffrey Mills was arrested Jan. 14, the same day of the fatal attack, on suspicion of assault with intent to kill. Paredes died on Jan. 15. On Wednesday prosecutors changed the charge from assault to first degree premeditated murder while armed.
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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.

The calendar is after the jump.
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We’ve touched on this before: Since the mid-1990s, violent crime across the United States has dropped dramatically. DC has gone from several hundred murders per year a decade ago to 108 last year.

And yet, experts struggle to explain the drop. Charles Murray, of the American Enterprise Institute, argues that the answer is actually simple: widespread policies of mass incarceration have taken thousands of criminals off the streets, which both removed violent people from neighborhoods and created a deterrent.
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