Homicide Watch D.C.

Vernon McRae was sentenced last week to five years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter of his stepfather, Michael Washington, during a drunken argument in October.

McRae pleaded guilty to the charge in February.
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A northwest Washington D.C. man has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the death of 48-year-old Tyrone Smith last June in Peworth.

Anthony Anderson entered his plea on Monday.

Prosecutors alleged that Anderson gave Smith money to purchase cocaine, then became angry and accused Smith of stealing money from him. Anderson punched Smith, striking him in the face and Smith fell backward and struck his head on concrete, the government’s proffer of evidence states.
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A man accused of killing 19 year-old Sean Robinson in what police believe was a gang-related shooting in Adams Morgan, has pleaded innocent to charges of murder and attempted murder stemming from the August 2010 homicide.

Robert Givens, 18, was indicted on a charge of first degree murder by a grand jury on April 29. The indictment alleges that Given “while armed with a firearm, purposely and with deliberate and premeditated malice, killed Sean Robinson by shooting him with a firearm on or about August 11, 2010.”

Givens, known as “Chop,” is also charged with two counts attempted murder for assaulting two other people that same night: “T.B’ and “M.W.”
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AP has a story this morning about Latisha Frazier, her mother’s desire to find her body and the court’s decision that there is no obligatory search for it.

Read Homicide Watch’s coverage of the court’s decision, along with the motions in the case, here.

From AP:

Caroline Frazier has spent months dreading that her 18-year-old daughter may be buried 70 feet deep in a mammoth landfill. Making matters worse, she says, is that no one is searching for her there.

One of the five people charged with murder in Latisha Frazier’s presumed death told investigators the teen’s body was left in a Washington garbage bin that gets emptied into a landfill outside Richmond, Va.

Yet District of Columbia police and prosecutors who have spent months on the case have opted against a search, saying excavating the landfill would be dangerous, expensive and have minimal chance of success — especially since authorities aren’t even positive her body is there. A judge agreed last month, denying a public defender’s request to order the search.

The decision left an unsettling conclusion for Frazier’s mother, who’s been unable to bury her daughter.
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A 19-year-old shot early Sunday morning has died of his injuries.

According to an MPD press release, Jermaine Anderson of the 4400 block of Pond Street NE, was shot at about 1 a.m. in the 1800 block of Central Place NE. Police said Anderson was taken to a local hospital and later succumbed to his injuries.

Anderson is likely the victim of a shooting reported Sunday. That victim suffered a head wound and was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Read more from MPD after the jump.
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Jessica Taylor was a 20-year-old sex worker when she was reported missing in D.C. in July 2003. Days later her body was found dismembered in New York, her head, hands and forearm missing.

Now Suffolk County authorities say those body parts have been found, reports Newsday.

On Monday, Suffolk County District Attorney said Taylor’s remains are among four sets of remains found at Long Island’s Gilgo Beach in December.

The 15-year-old girl accused of fatally shooting 18-year-old Anacostia High School sophomore Garey Gordon, has pleaded “involved,” a juvenile plea equivalent to “guilty.”

The girl entered her plea to involuntary manslaughter on April 21. Homicide Watch D.C. learned of it today at a hearing for her release.

On Monday Judge Patricia Broderick declined to release the teen or to rule on the consequences for involuntary manslaughter, saying that the court did not yet have enough information about the girl to determine what type of release or confinement would be most beneficial for her.

The teen’s “involved” plea applies to four charges: involuntary manslaughter, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm. Three additional charges were dropped: voluntary manslaughter while armed, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of ammunition without valid registration.

D.C. Superior Court rules prohibit Homicide Watch from identifying the teen involved because she is a juvenile.

The 15-year-old’s attorney advocated for her return home to her parents. The attorney said that it was a “lack of structure” at home that led to her client’s “terrible mistake,” but that parenting classes could improve the home situation.
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In Brief:

• This year has been especially dangerous for people 21 and younger in D.C. While there were about as many homicide victims in the first four months of 2011 as the same period last year, 13 victims in DC this year have been 21 or younger. Read how that compares to last year’s homicides and see an interactive timeline of youth homicides, here.
• Alphonzo Epps, a 20-year-old Southeast D.C. man, was stabbed to death near Fort Stanton Park on Tuesday night. No arrests have been made in that case. Read about the incident, and memories of Epps, here.

A fifteen-year-old girl charged with killing 18-year-old Anacostia High School senior Garey Gordon is expected to be in court Monday morning for the start of her trial.

The girl told authorities that she did not think the gun was loaded, and had taken steps to unload it, before pointing it at Gordon and firing, a homicide detective testified at her preliminary hearing in March.

“She said she removed the magazine and was playing with the gun,” Officer John Bevilacqua, said. “She pointed it at the decedent, pulled the trigger, and shot him.”

Magistrate Judge Diana Harris Epps found probable cause in the case after Bevilacqua’s testimony. She ruled that even if the teen had no intention of shooting Gordon, playing with the firearm showed gross neglect.

Juvenile proceedings are not open to the public and court regulations prohibit us from naming the juvenile involved.

Following are scheduled court appearances for murder cases. This information is current as of Friday, May 6 at 9:30 a.m. and will be re-verified throughout the week. Please remember that court dates can change, even at the last minute. To view the docket of a case please go to the D.C. Courts website and search by the defendant’s name. To add an item to the calendar, email homicidewatchdc [at] gmail.com.
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