Ronald Pickett was ordered released from jail today where he was being held on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of his fiance Vanessa McGee.
Pickett appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit for a preliminary hearing Thursday morning. Detective Carter Adams said Pickett told police that he accidentally shot McGee at their Southeast D.C. home early in the morning of March 5. According to Pickett, the two were arguing and he decided to stay the night elsewhere. While packing his belongings he picked up the gun and accidentally fired it when he was pushed or he tripped. The bullet struck McGee in the shoulder, killing her, authorities said.
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Thirteen men were indicted today on charges stemming from several shootouts beginning in July 2009 in Southeast D.C., which resulted in two murders.
Melvin White, 27, was killed in the 600 Block of 46th Place SE in April 2010 and Antwan Buckner, 32, was killed in the same block in May 2010.
The defendants are:
- Raymond Davis, also known as Soldier Boy, 18;
- Deante Harding, also known as White Boy Tay, 22;
- Jean-Robert Jean-Baptiste, also known as Junior, 20;
- William Spriggs, also known as Weetie, 22;
- Curtis Faison, 19;
- Antonio Fortson, also known as T.O., 19,
- Anthony Hebron, also known as Peanut, 17;
- Lamonte Henson, also known as Tiggy, 19;
- Kevin Magruder, also known as Son, 29;
- Marcellus McCray, also known as Mateo, 17;
- Deandre Mungo, also known as Dee, 19;
- Timothy Parker, also known as Step, 33;
- Lamont Thomas, 20.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office is after the jump.
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An attorney for one of the men accused in the murder of Latisha Frazier has asked the court to demand that police search for the missing woman’s body, saying that Brian Gaither can not have a fair trial without evidence that his “alleged actions contributed to Ms. Frazier’s death at all.”
Eugene Ohm filed the motion in D.C. Superior Court Tuesday. In it he states the police have “the duty and the burden” to recover Frazier’s remains and that Gaither will be “prejudiced against” should police not make an effort to do so.
Ohm says MPD’s decision to not search for Frazier’s body at the Virginia landfill it is purported to be in is nearly without precedent. “Chief Lanier’s decision represents only the second time that a department has declined to even try,” Ohm said in his motion.
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MPD Police Chief Cathy Lanier on efforts to recover Latisha Frazier’s body:
(Note: Apologies for the delayed posting on this statement.)
We considered it an extremely high priority to recover the remains, and to suggest that this was a decision based solely on resources is inaccurate. I tried to place myself in the shoes of Latisha’s family. The main considerations for such a search are probability of recovery and safety.Read more
Donald Crosland‘s preliminary hearing on first degree murder charges was postponed today so that the hearing can take place the same day as a felony status conference for Crosland’s co-defendant in the case, Kevin Clark.
Both men are suspected in the shooting death of Ricardo Minger.
The hearing is now scheduled for Friday, March 25 in front of Judge Thomas Motley.
Washington City Paper | Mar 14, 2011
On Friday, the city’s chief medical examiner suggested top Metropolitan Police Department officials could have gotten the facts right from the outset if only they’d checked in.
DCist | Mar 15, 2011
Pierre-Louis told Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary Chair Phil Mendelson that if one detective had simply asked the M.E.’s office for an update, they would have found that “there was really no trauma visible” to Mohammed’s body.
In January Tonya Bynum had nearly given up. Her 22-year-old son Maurice had been missing for eight weeks. She had to beg for police to take a missing persons report, and, as weeks went on and her gut told her that Maurice was more than missing, she begged again and again for more investigation.
“He just vanished off the scene of the earth,” she told Homicide Watch then. “Nobody’s heard anything. We’ve done everything we can do.”
Her instincts told her that Maurice was in danger. Or dead. The father of two children, an infant and a toddler, it wasn’t like him to just disappear, she said. And then there was a financial aid appointment at Westwood College scheduled for January 2. “He wouldn’t miss that,” she said.
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This comment of the day comes from Naqwan.
i will always miss my father rip ricco matthews i love you and grandma i love you and we gon keep our heads up and stay strong im gon try and finish school and do what i gotta do rip to my father ricco matthews
Selina Knight, who was stabbed to death in her Southeast D.C. apartment March 5, will be remembered by family and friends today at a funeral at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Temple Hills, Md. According to Knight’s obituary, a viewing will be held at the church beginning at 10 a.m. The service begins at 11 a.m.
