A total of thirty new charges were added today to the cases against five young people accused in last year’s violent South Capitol Street shooting.
The charges, consisting mostly of conspiracy and counts of assault with intent to kill, mean that Sanquan Carter, 20, his brother, Orlando Carter, 21, Jeffrey D. Best, 22, Robert Bost, 22, and Lamar J. Williams, 22, all could be sentenced to life without parole if convicted.
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A man shot and killed Monday night in Columbia Heights has been identified by police as 21-year-old Terrence Desean Smith.
Smith was found fatally shot in the rear of the 700 block of Columbia Road Northwest. Officers from the Third District responded to the address to investigate the sound of gunshots. Smith had been shot multiple times, MPD officials said.
MPD’s press release is after the jump.
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This comment of the day comes from Mee Mee, who wrote in response to Michelle Johnson, who said she was with Kevin Washington as he died in Columbia Heights earlier this month.
Michelle I am so happy and thankful to know that some of God’s angels here on earth were with my cousin in his last moments. Just reading both posts from you and Michelle had the tears flowing uncontrollably down my face. I was happy to know he wasn’t alone and sad because of the awful circumstances under which he was taken. Just the thought of initially thinking he was alone in his last moments was very unsettling and devastating because no one deserves to be alone in the street dying. I would truly like to thank you and your co-worker Michelle along with all of the other good samaritans for being with him, that means more than you will ever know. Sending Love, Blessings, and Kind Thoughts your way. Your kindness will never be forgotten.
Kevin’s Big Cousin Mee Mee
There’s a good discussion going on today over at Prince of Petworth‘s post about Monday night’s fatal shooting in Columbia Heights.
Let us set a goal of zero homicides in the District and then set out seriously to achieve it. Some of our neighboring jurisdictions actually accomplish that goal year after year. That we have a goal of less than 100 annually somehow doesn’t sit right with me. That’s a murder every third day.
I don’t like the zero homicide goal because once you have one, you’ve failed. I think it’s more productive to set an aggressively low goal, like under 80, that way you have something to continue to work toward throughout the year.
Otherwise, what do you do after you have the first homicide of the year? Which we will. We just will, even if it’s not from street violence it could be domestic or something that is harder to prevent.
What do you think? Does setting a goal help law enforcement? What are the best goals to set? (number of crimes, number of arrests, number of prosecutions, number of successful prosecutions?) How does the number of homicides influence how you feel about safety in D.C.?
For the record, Monday’s shooting was the 31st recorded homicide in D.C. this year and the ninth in the past 18 days. For a complete listing, use Homicide Watch’s Google spreadsheet embedded after the jump.
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Bernard Gayles, a 40-year-old D.C. man, was sentenced to 12 years and three months in prison today after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the stabbing death of 54-year-old Nathaniel Hall in 2009.
More information from the U.S. Attorney’s office is after the jump.
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UPDATED: A woman found stabbed to death in Anacostia Park Sunday night was identified by a friend today as Sonya Lynch.
The Washington Times reports that Lynch, 46, was found fatally stabbed in the parking lot of the Anacostia Park Skating Pavilion at about 9:50 p.m.
According to a comment left yesterday on Homicide Watch, Lynch was a mother and grandmother.
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An 18-year-old recently kicked out of an alternative school is a “person of interest” in Raheem Jackson‘s killing, the Washington Examiner reports.
MPD Capt. Michael Farish told the Examiner that “it is too soon to label” the teen a suspect. No arrests have been made.
The Examiner and the Washington Post have both reported that Jackson was trying to buy a gun or had bought a gun the day he was killed. The person he was buying from may have robbed and killed him in the process, the Examiner said.
A man was shot and killed Monday night at about 10:45 in Columbia Heights, the Washington Post reports this morning.
The man’s identity was not available.
MPD Commander Jacob Kishter informed the Third District via a listserve message that there had been a shooting last night.
An Alert DC message warned residents to lookout for two black males wearing army jackets and blue jeans in connection with the shooting.
The shooting was less than a mile from where Kevin Andre Washington‘s body was found on April 10.
Kishter asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact police at 2027279099 or 888919CRIME or to text 50411.
This comment of the day comes from Tasha Smith, who wrote in about a woman found dead in Anacostia Sunday night. She said:
She is the mother of two and a grandmother. I’m so so sad to know that she died a violent death. I pray that she did not suffer. I wasn’t an acqaintance but I have known her since she was around 14 years old. It really breaks my heart. I will not reveal her name at this time but the family has id her. Senseless, people take life from others so easily. May they all pay in the end for these horrific crimes.
A 34-year-old Maryland man was sentenced to 90 years in prison today in the 1999 shooting deaths of Duane Hicks and Passion McDowney in a car in Northwest D.C.
Details from the U.S. Attorney’s office are after the jump.
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