Next week is relatively quiet at D.C. Superior Court for homicide cases. A scheduled preliminary hearing for Albrecht Muth, suspected of killing his wife, Viola Drath, in their Georgetown home, has been postponed. It was originally scheduled for Friday.
Three other cases are still on the books for next week, though.
On Thursday, James Brewer and Stephen Page are expected for a preliminary hearing in a first-degree murder case. They are suspected in the murder of Solomon Reese. Judge Thomas Motley is expected to hear the case at 9:10 a.m.
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A DC police officer “romantically linked” to Ricardo Mitchell could face criminal charges connected with the Minnesota Ave. NE murder of Wyatt Earp Robinson, Paul Wagner from MyFoxDC reports.
Reports Wagner:
Law enforcement sources say the officer, who is assigned to the Second District, first told investigators she had not witnessed the crime. Then, upon further questioning she changed her story. Admitting she was in the 3900 block of Clay Place Northeast when detectives say Ricardo Mitchell, 32, shot and killed Wyatt Robinson.
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Court records show that a preliminary hearing to review the evidence against Albrecht Muth has been postponed to Sept. 9.
Muth was due to appear in court next Friday, Sept. 2. He is suspected of killing his wife, Viola Drath, in their Georgetown home earlier this month.
From the US Attorney’s Office:
Cousins Found Guilty of First Degree Murder While Armed, Other Charges in 2008 Slaying in Northwest Washington - Defendants Believed Victim Had Killed Family Member -
WASHINGTON - Gary Dickens, 41, and, his cousin, Antwarn “Tony” Fenner, 37, were convicted by a jury today of murder and conspiracy charges in the slaying of a man they believed had killed one of their family members, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Dickens, formerly of Bowie, Md., and Fenner, formerly of Hyattsville, Md., were convicted following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Jennifer M. Anderson, who presided at trial, set sentencing for December 5, 2011. The defendants face a statutory maximum term of life imprisonment.
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Ricardo Mitchell was presented today with a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Wyatt Earp Robinson.
Appearing in court wearing a light brown polo shirt and jeans, Mitchell was silent through the proceeding. He’s expected back in court on Sept 8 and was ordered held pending that date.
Prosecutors believe that Mitchell shot Robinson Sunday evening on Minnesota Avenue NE in front of at least two witnesses.
According to charging documents in the case, Robinson was shot to death on the sidewalk outside of seafood shop on Minnesota Ave NE. Investigators said that as Robinson was walking down the street, he “looked in the direction” of three people sitting on a Clay Place porch.
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Finding “substantial probability” in a second-degree murder case against Terrance “Peanut” McNeal today, Judge Lynn Leibovitz said that even if McNeal was provoked and attacked by the man prosecutors say he killed, his use of force was “excessive.”
Prosecutors say that McNeal fatally stabbed Charles Hicks during an argument in Southeast DC on June 19.
According to charging documents, McNeal told witnesses that the night of the stabbing, Hicks knocked a drink out of McNeal’s hand, then attempted to search McNeal’s pockets.
Testifying at the preliminary hearing Thursday, Detective John Bolden said McNeal told detectives that Hicks had punched him in the face and “wouldn’t leave him alone.”
The altercation made McNeal “angry” and he stabbed Hicks four times,” Bolden said McNeal told detectives.
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Ronald Pickett entered a plea of “not guilty” today at his arraignment on a charge of second-degree murder while armed in the shooting death of his fiance, Vanessa McGee.
Pickett, who was 26-years-old when he was arrested on March 5, told authorities that he accidentally shot McGee at their Southeast D.C. home early in the morning of March 5.
At a preliminary hearing in the case, Detective Carter Adams testified that Pickett said he and McGee were arguing and he decided to stay the night elsewhere. While packing his belongings he picked up a gun and accidentally fired it when he was pushed or he tripped.
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A Temple Hills, Md. man has been arrested in connection with the Sunday shooting death of Wyatt Earp Robinson on Minnesota Avenue NE.
MPD said in a press release that 32-year-old Ricardo Mitchell is suspected of first-degree murder while armed in the case.
MPD’s press release is after the jump.
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Sergio Waynes, a 24-year-old Silver Spring man who police said Monday was responsible for a double homicide, is not being prosecuted for murder at this time.
MPD said in a release Monday that
On Monday, August 22, 2011, members from the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 24 year-old Sergio Waynes of Silver Spring Maryland, pursuant to a DC Superior Court warrant charging him with Carrying a Pistol without a License (CPWL) in an unrelated case. Subsequently, at 4:45 am, he was charged by the Homicide Branch for First Degree Murder while Armed in the double homicide.
Waynes is suspected in the shooting deaths of D’Angelo Thompson and Rashid Paul in Northwest D.C. on Jan. 23.
Today a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office said his office “did not file murder charges against” Waynes but that the case remains open and under investigation.
MPD has not yet returned a request for comment.
Waynes is currently in custody and awaiting a preliminary hearing on a charge of carrying a pistol without a license on Aug. 17.
A 15-year-old DC boy suspected in the shooting death of Osman Al-Akbar was ordered held today by a juvenile court judge following a preliminary hearing in the case. A trial date of Sept. 29 was set, court officials said.
The boy has not been identified because he is charged as a juvenile.
Another teen, 19-year-old Rashid Caviness-Bey, is due in court Sept. 9 for a preliminary hearing in the case.
Al-Akbar, known to friends as “Ark,” was 19 years old when he was shot and killed on Aug. 17 near Meridian Hill Park.
