R.i.p to the brothers who lost their lives tonight in the city due to the violence. Prayers go out to the survivors.#wegottodobetter
— CockySavingLives (@Gandhi1012) April 7, 2011
This was just one of countless messages about violence in DC that were posted to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube this year.
Many of the messages were heartbreaking. Some were funny. All were real. And all spoke to the reality of living— and dying— in this city.
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As 2011 ticks to a close, MPD appears to be busy tracking down murder suspects and taking them to court.
A total of five people were arrested on murder charges in 31 hours Tuesday and Wednesday, with the most recent arrestees expected to appear in court today.
The suspects are:
Andrew Wesley Williams, 25, is suspected of first-degree murder while armed in the shooting death of Junon Tyree Snead. He was arrested Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at approximately 10:05 a.m.
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In the fifth homicide arrest in two days, Stephen Deon Barnes was arrested today in connection with the fatal shooting of Stephon Emmanuel Way.
Barnes, a 22-year-old Northwest DC man, is suspected of first degree murder while armed.
Way, 24, was shot at a gas station in Northeast DC on Dec. 10. A juvenile girl was also shot but survived.
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Terry Terrell Johnson, a 22-year-old Southeast DC man, has been arrested on suspicion of first degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of Andre Wiggins.
Wiggins, 19, was killed on Oct. 26.
MPD announced Johnson’s arrest Wednesday night. It was the fourth arrest made in a homicide case in approximately 31 hours. Three suspects: Anthony Speight, Andrew Williams and Harold Proctor were arrested Tuesday and appeared in court Wednesday. The cases are all unrelated.
Johnson is likely to appear in court Thursday.
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A playground shooting that killed Junon Snead in May was captured on surveillance video from a nearby apartment building.
That video was used, in part, by detectives to arrest Andrew Williams on suspicion of first-degree murder while armed Tuesday. Williams appeared in court Wednesday to be presented with the charge. He was ordered held pending a preliminary hearing.
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The call came in to a 911 center in Maryland:
“Stab this n**** up.”
“Work his pockets.”
“Give me your phone.”
“Come up off that North Face cuz.”
“Get in the f***ing car… C’mon before the police show up.”
“Nah son, I’m bout to stab this n*** up.”
When police arrived, Kevin Blackwell Jr. was found stabbed in the chest, the victim of an apparent robbery. He died later that night.
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Domestic violence experts in DC watched homicide reports closely this year, culling the details of every case to determine whether murder victims were also domestic violence victims.
Too often they have been, said Amy Loudermilk, a senior policy specialist with the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCCADV).
Of 108 reported homicides this year, 13 victims have been killed in domestic violence attacks, according to records kept by the DCCADV and DC SAFE. Twelve domestic violence homicides were reported in all of last year, in comparison. Though the increase is slight, domestic violence experts are worried.
“It’s just alarming to me,” Loudermilk said. “We are not exactly sure what’s going on.”
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A $20 robbery may have been the cause of Bill Mitchell‘s shooting death in Truxton Circle last January.
That’s according to charging documents made public today just before Anthony Speight, the man prosecutors say killed Mitchell, was presented with a charge of first degree murder while armed.
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Albrecht Muth, 47, who claims to be an officially unofficial agent of the Iraqi military, will spend the new year at DC Jail, where he is on a hunger strike and awaiting indictment in Georgetown’s first murder in five years.
Muth is suspected in the August 2011 strangling death of his 91-year-old wife, Viola Drath, a German-born journalist known for entertaining high-ranking US officials—including Supreme Court justices—in her home.
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From Homicide Watch DC’s databases, the year in homicide, visualized:
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