We Remember: A Letter from Homicide Watch DC

In April it will be three years since D.C. teen Raheem Jackson was killed.

Many others, young and old, have been killed since, but it’s Jackson who I most often think about as I report and edit for Homicide Watch D.C. In nearly three years, his words have never left me.

Walking Benning Road at night is like
being scarred on your first fight.

Jackson was young, and bright, a straight-A student, a basketball player, and a poet. He was shot and killed at 9:30 one April evening in the 1300 block of Congress Street Southeast.

If his words had any premonition, it was simply reality. That he was a young black man in a city where young black men are all too often victims — or suspects — of homicide.
Read more

Drug Deal, Robbery Alleged in Shooting Death of Maryland Man Rhett Gelb

The shooting death of Maryland man Rhett Gelb in Northwest DC was a robbery attempt when Gelb attempted to purchase $500 worth of marijuana, a witness to the shooting has told police.

That’s according to arrest documents charging Roger St John, of Northeast DC, with Gelb’s death.

St John appeared in DC Superior Court Wednesday to be presented with the charge of first-degree felony murder. He was ordered held pending a preliminary hearing set for January 14.
Read more

Roger St John Arrested in May Shooting Death of Rhett Gelb

A 41-year-old Northeast DC man has been arrested in connection with the May 2013 shooting death of Rhett Gelb.

The suspect, identified by police as Roger St John, is expected to be charged with first-degree felony murder, police said.

St John was arrested Tuesday.

DC Superior Court is open for arraignments through the Christmas holiday.

A press release from MPD is after the jump.
Read more

Guest Column: Kia Joppy, Sister of Timothy Dawkins

This guest column comes from Kia Dupree Joppy, sister of community activist Timothy Dawkins, who was shot and killed Aug. 21, 2013.

I loss my baby brother, my mom loss her youngest son, my siblings loss their favorite brother, his son loss a father and [Trayon White] lost his best friend.

Timothy Dawkins It feels, like it was just last night even though he was slaughtered like an animal in the street on August 21st by a gunman shooting aimlessly in a residential neighborhood in broad daylight while children played nearby a few months ago.Read more

Michael Davis Identified as NE DC Sunday Morning Shooting Victim

A man killed early Sunday morning in Northeast DC has been identified as 24-year-old Michael Davis.

Davis was one of two men found shot shortly after 4 a.m. in the 1300 block of Saratoga Avenue, Northeast. The other man had non-life threatening injuries, police said.

A press release from MPD is after the jump.
Read more

Week in Review

James Cornelius Robinson was ordered held in connection with the death of death of Jason Alexander Murphy. In a police interview, he denied involvement with the shooting.

Jurors found Cydrisse Alvin guilty of felony murder, saying that she fatally stabbed 28-year-old Amber Kent in Kent’s home in June 2012.

Albrecht Muth‘s trial on charges that he killed his wife, Viola Herms Drath, is still expected to take place January 6, despite Muth’s continued and prolonged fast.

Darryl Matthews is free after prosecutors dropped all charges against him in the death of cab driver Hayes Osei Dennis.

Homicide Watch DC is hiring interns starting in January. See this post for details on how to apply.

Charges Dropped in DC Cab Driver’s Death

A Southwest DC man is free Friday after a second-degree murder charge he was facing in the stabbing death of a 60-year-old cab driver was dismissed.

The man, Darryl Matthews, appeared in court Thursday. At that hearing prosecutors voluntarily dismissed the case saying that they did not indict the case.
Read more

Cydrisse Alvin Found Guilty in June 2012 Murder of Amber Kent

Jurors found Cydrisse Alvin guilty Thursday of felony murder, saying that she fatally stabbed 28-year-old Amber Kent in Kent’s home in June 2012.

Jurors deliberated approximately two days before announcing their verdict.
Read more

Despite Fast, Muth Murder Trial Prepares To Move Forward

Albrecht Muth‘s trial on charges that he killed his wife, Viola Herms Drath, is still expected to take place January 6, despite Muth’s continued and prolonged fast.

At a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Russell Canan asked Muth to end his fast. Muth replied that he would not.

I do not have the authority to break my fast,” he said, adding that he was fasting on “the authority of St. Gabriel.”

Muth did say that he would “ask for permission to break the fast”, though ultimately, he promised to “follow holy orders”.
Read more

Jury Begins Deliberations in Cydrisse Alvin Murder Trial

Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in a first-degree murder case charging Cydrisse Alvin, who is also known as Meeka, with the June 2012 stabbing death of 28-year-old Amber Kent.

During the five-day trial, prosecutors argued that Alvin knocked on Kent’s door, came inside, and stabbed Kent three times in front of Kent’s boyfriend Lamarzs Wilson and her 6-year-old sleeping daughter.

But Alvin’s defense argued that Wilson was the person who actually stabbed Kent. And Wilson “forgot every fact that made him look guilty,” said Alvin’s defense attorney Anthony Matthews on Tuesday. Read more