Two new judges will be added to the felony one calendar, adjudicating the most serious of cases, in January.
Those judges are Rhonda Reid Winston, who is taking over Calendar Three from Judge Ronna Beck and Judge Jennifer Anderson who is taking over Calendar Four from Judge Herbert Dixon.
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Judge Karen Howze found probable cause Tuesday in the case against Andre Burks. Burks is accused of participating in the shooting death of Antwan Boseman.
Burks, 26, is serving a sentence for a robbery charge until July 2015. A preliminary hearing in the murder case is scheduled January 24, 2014. He is suspected of second-degree murder.
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This year saw the first rise in the number of homicides since 2008. The larger trend still holds, though: The District has seen a steady decline in murder since violent crime peaked in the early 1990s.
From Homicide Watch D.C.’s database, here is the year in homicide, visualized: Read more
Washington D.C.–Pictures of Nardyne Jefferies and her daughter, Brishell, who was murdered three years ago, hang from the stairway Jefferies walks up everyday.
Nardyne Jefferies keeps an old Dominos pizza box stowed away in her refrigerator. It helps her remember her daughter, Brishell Jones, who was murdered three years ago.
“That was the last meal she had the night before she died,” Jefferies said. “I can’t bear to throw it away.”
Jones was killed in a shooting that took the lives of two other teenagers. She was 16-years-old.
For the past ten years the District of Columbia has seen a decline in murder rate, recently down from 31.5 murders per 100,000 residents in 2008, to 13.9 last year. The majority of victims, though, remain young, not even old enough to rent a car.
Homicide Watch D.C. statistics show that this past year the most common ages for victims of homicide were 22 and 24, and almost two-thirds of all murder victims were in their 20s or 30s when they died.
For the families of these slain, the pain of violent crime is compounded by the tragedy of opportunity lost. But the mothers, who share a profound bond with the dead, experience a loss like no other.
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From Bellevue to Brightwood, Capitol Heights to Dupont Circle, 105 people lost their lives in DC this year to violence.
The count is an uptick from last year’s homicide tally of 92; the increase is generally believed to be a result of the tragic mass-shooting at DC’s Navy Yard in September. Twelve people were killed by a single gunman in that attack.
MPD’s official homicide count, as of Tuesday morning, is 103. That count does not include two deaths which were ruled self-defense. Homicide Watch DC counts those cases because the cause of death listed on the case records is homicide and MPD includes those cases in tallying homicide case closures at the end of the year.
At Homicide Watch DC we know that for families and friends at vigils and in courtrooms, numbers don’t mean much. That’s why we promise to cover every victim, every suspect, every case.
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This post has been updated with a copy of the indictment and warrant, added below.
An arrest was made Monday in connection with the June death of 21-year-old Rayshawn Hailstock, MPD said.
The defendant, identified by police as Howard Bruce Randolph, 25, is suspected of involuntary manslaughter.
According to court records, a warrant was issued for him on the charge based on an original indictment from the Grand Jury. He is expected to be arraigned January 7.
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The year’s first Comment of the Day came from “Tanisha Hayes” on January 2, 2013. She was writing about Angelo Alphonso Payne and said:
I still can’t believe this man my mind all over the place never in a million years would’ve thought in 2013 iI wouldnt have my bestfriend to spend it wit , then not juss that but my blood brother suspect for this , come on man smh I’m really messed up behind all this mannnnn , wat am I to do in this situation I’m going crazy iI love Youu khari , keep your head up &’ Anlo iI miss youu endlessly &’ Ii love Youu bestfriend
D.C.-area photographer Lloyd Wolf documents the detritus of crime scenes — leftover police tape and other emergency equipment — as well as the memorials that grow in their wake — the flowers, stuffed animals, photos, and more — at Washington’s Other Monuments.
From Wolf, here is the year in photos:
A 26-year-old Southeast DC man was arrested Monday on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the August 2012 shooting death of Antwan Boseman.
Police identified the suspect as Andre Burks.
Boseman was one of two people shot in the 800 block of Barnaby Street Southeast on August 4, 2012. The other shooting victim survived.
A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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On December 9, U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen sat down with Homicide Watch D.C. reporters Ivan Natividad and Clara Pak.
Looking back at all homicide cases that were tried and convicted this past year, Machen said the Olijawon Griffin murder case was the one he remembers most:
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