Homicide Watch D.C.

Who do we remember as we enter 2011? Which cases will stay with you?

One hundred and thirty one people died on D.C. streets this year, nearly three quarters of them in gun violence. Of the victims whose identities were released, 14 13 victims were under the age of 18 at the time of their deaths, 25 24 were under the age of 20.

We remember some more easily than others. The deaths of Ebony Franklin and Angel Morse, both in Northwest D.C., captured our attention. Raj Patel, killed in a robbery attempt on his grocery in Brookland; Larry Hutchins, shot to death at work at D.C.’s Department of Public Works; Neil Godleski, a Catholic University student killed while bicycling home in Petworth; the violence of their deaths seemed to feel like more tragedy than many could stand.

But there were so many other deaths, too.

Homicide Watch D.C. has compiled a database of D.C.’s homicides this year using Metro Police Department and FBI press releases as well as press reports. The second page of the database pulls homicide data from OCTO, D.C.’s office of technology. We’ve spent the better part of a week reconciling the two different spreadsheets. As you’ll see, OCTO reports 131 homicides— the same number used by Metro Police in their most recent homicide count. In a search of public documents, however, we found 113 homicides and we have not been able to determine the status of the 18 homicides reported by OCTO that have not been reported by Metro Police or the press. More on this in another post soon.

Homicide Watch D.C. is going to parse these numbers over the next few days, and bring you updates on some of the cases. We hope you might do the same.

Consider this your open invitation to collaborate. Have we missed a case? Is there a name or an age you can contribute? What about a photo for our gallery? Leave a link, leave a memory, leave an update on a case.

To add or make changes to the spreadsheet or to add a photo, email Laura Amico at homicidewatchdc [at] gmail.com. Comments are open, with the usual guidelines, for everything else. To view the spreadsheet as a full page, go to its public page on Google Docs.

For tips on how to use the spreadsheets, including how to sort columns and what the different highlighted fields mean, view this post.

Metro Police announced arrests in two homicide cases from 2009 yesterday; 36-year-old Lamar Smith and 18-year-old Hiawatha Henry. Both men are charged with first degree murder.

Smith was arrested on suspicion of killing 40-year-old Joseph Barton on Feb. 6, 2009 in the 1300 block of Fort Stevens Drive in Northwest D.C. Barton was shot to death.

Henry was arrested on suspicion of killing his seven-week-old son, Hiawatha Jackson. Jackson was found unresponsive on August 29, 2009 and was taken to a local hospital where he was declared dead. An autopsy concluded that the death was a homicide.
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Note: this column normally appears on Saturdays. It is running today because of the Christmas holiday.

In brief:

• Raymond Roseboro was charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of Prince Okorie.
• Aaron Woodfork, a 29-year-old man, was shot and killed on Bladensburg Road in Northeast D.C.
• The death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed outside of the DC9 nightclub was ruled a homicide by the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office.
• Brookland FoodMart Manager Raj Patel was remembered throughout the week as police investigated his shooting death.
• Reginald Vance, a 39-year-old barber from Hyattsville, Md. was arraigned on first degree premeditated murder while armed charges in the shooting death of Keith Banks.
• Damon Sams pleaded innocent to charges that he shot and killed Ashley McRae in September.
• James Pone, a 20-year-old Southeast D.C. resident, was shot to death in the 700 block of Brandywine Street SE.

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There are no scheduled court appearances on Homicide Watch D.C.’s calendar for next week. We’ll keep an eye out for anything breaking though and will update over the next week as necessary.

Have an item to add to the calendar? A court date we missed? A funeral announcement or memorial service? Something else? Comment here or email homicidewatchdc [at] gmail.com.

Metro Police have released the following information about a fatal shooting on Brandywine Street in Southeast D.C. Tuesday night. The shooting killed 30-year-old James Pone.

December 23, 2010

Homicide in the 700 block of Brandywine Street, SE.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating the fatal shooting which occurred in the 700 block of Brandywine Street, SE.
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Dear Readers,
Homicide Watch D.C.’s fundraising effort on Spot.Us has only eight more days. We’re hoping you might take a moment from wrapping your presents to help us wrap up our project.

Please consider a donation to Homicide Watch D.C. Your money will help us improve this site by adding a fully searchable complete library of court documents for murder cases in the District of Columbia.

Pledge a cash donation or click “free credits” to support our efforts.

Thank you and happy holidays.
-Laura Amico, Editor, Homicide Watch D.C.

A Southeast D.C. man accused of killing Columbia Heights 21-year-old Ashley McRae has been indicted by a grand jury on second degree murder charges.

McRae was found in the backseat of a car in Southeast D.C. with a gunshot wound to her head early in the morning of Sept. 18. According to press reports and charging documents against Damon Sams, McRae and Sams had been out at a nightclub Friday night and got in an argument while riding in the car to a house party.
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A shooting in Southeast D.C. on Tuesday night killed 30-year-old James Pone, a Southeast D.C. resident whose family and friends in North Carolina today expressed surprise and sorrow at his death.

Pone, a graduate of Whiteville High School’s class of 1999, was shot at about 9 p.m. in the 700 block of Brandywine Street SE. He was identified in the Washington Post and by friends on Facebook. According to posts, Pone was a running back on Whiteville High’s football team and ran track.
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Reginald Vance, a 39-year-old barber from Hyattsville, Md. was arraigned on first degree premeditated murder while armed charges today during his second court appearance in as many days. He is now being held without bond and is next expected in court Jan. 4, 2011 at 9 a.m.

Vance is one of two suspects that investigators say killed 29-year-old Keith Banks in Fort Circle Park in Northeast D.C. on Nov. 12. The second suspect is not named in Vance’s charging documents and no co-defendants are listed in his case.
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Update 2:45 p.m. According to the Washington Post, the victim has been identified as 30-year-old James Pone of Southeast DC.

Metro Police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Tuesday night at about 9 p.m. in the 700 block of Brandywine Street SE. A male victim was transported from the scene of the shooting to a local hospital where he was declared dead.
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