Homicide Watch D.C.

Nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Britt was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for the shooting death of George Rawlings after the funeral of a mutual friend.

A press release from the US Attorney’s office is after the jump.
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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.

On Monday, Chamontae Walker and Meeko Carraway are expected for a status hearing with Judge Thomas Motley. They are suspected in the shooting death of Darrel Hendy in Sept. 2010. A jury trial has been scheduled for February. A co-defendant in the case, Corey Yates, is expected to be arraigned on a first-degree murder charge in Monday at the same time.
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One of the two men charged in the shooting death of teen Joseph Alonzo Sharps Jr is not standing trial in the case as scheduled in October.

AUSA David Saybolt today said that Kwan Kearney‘s trial date of Oct. 31 remains, but that Larnell Allen will not go to trial on that date.
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This comment of the day comes from Dave, who wrote in about Tyrell Fogle.

There is no reasoning in gunning down an unarmed youth. As the police who witnessed the incident stated, Anthony Hatton was wearing a mask at the time of the incident and was observed by the police chasing Tyrell while shooting at him. Tyrell was not a bad young man.Read more

Karl Pugh was ordered held today on suspcion of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Quentin Ragland in Southeast DC yesterday.

According to charging documents, Pugh told authorities that he and Ragland were smoking PCP together when they got into a “tussle.” Ragland retrieved a revolver from his apartment, came back outside, and the “tussle” resumed, Pugh told police.

Pugh said he wrestled the revolver away from Ragland, but that the revolver fired while he was grabbing it.
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Twenty-seven year-old Quentin Joavor Ragland was killed yesterday afternoon in Southeast D.C., MPD said Wednesday, adding that thirty-year-old Karl Nathaniel Pugh has been arrested in connection with the case.

Ragland was found shot in the 800 block of Southern Avenue SE. He was transported to a local hospital where he died, police said.

Pugh was presented with a charge of second-degree murder today. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30.
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Davon Holmes was ordered held this morning on probable cause that he fatally stabbed Marcellus Bailey in August.

Bailey, 24, died after being cut in the neck. MPD Detective Paul Regan said Wednesday that Bailey was unarmed when he was killed.
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A meeting for parents of homicide victims is planned for Thursday evening in Northwest D.C., said Kenny Barnes of the Homicide Prevention Task Force.

Organizers hope to form a “speakers bureau” of homicide victims’ friends and family.

Said Barnes,

Those of us who have been affected by the worst tragedy that can befall a parent, family member, or friend, it is time for us to organize collectively together and speak in one voice, not try to fight individual battles, not just for ourselves and our lost family members but to collectively strategize and work together to prevent the same tragedy that has befallen us not happening again and again to other families like ours.

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A curated collection of profiles and memories of Gaurav Gopalan is after the jump.
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UPDATED at 8:30 p.m. with MPD’s press release

Washington City Paper reports that Gaurav Gopalan, who was found dead in Columbia Heights and was identified at the time as a transgender woman, is believed to have been killed in a homicide.
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