In brief:
- Two men were killed in a shoot-out with Metro Police following a home invasion robbery in Brookland.
- Deon Thornton was charged with second-degree murder in death of his brother, Derrick Thornton.
- Sixth arrest made in suspected homicide of 18-year-old Latisha Frazier.
- Vernon McRae pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 63-year-old Michael Washington.
- Marcus C. Silver was found guilty of manslaughter while armed in the shooting death of 26-year-old Shadawnchea Gardner.
- Sixty-five-year-old Clarence Wilson found dead of an apparent shooting in his Northeast D.C. home.
- Homicide Watch D.C.’s “reporter’s notebook” now online to tell the backstory of the site.
Two men were killed in a shoot-out with Metro Police following a home invasion robbery in Brookland. Six Catholic University students were in the home at the time of the robbery and were uninjured. A third suspect, Steffan Feilds, was arrested and has been charged with First Degree Burglary while Armed. For follow-up on the case, see Brookland Avenue Blog.
Twenty-one year old Adams Morgan man Deon Thornton was charged with second degree murder in the stabbing death of his older brother, Derrick. A witness to the assault stepped in between the men and tried to separate them, but Deon Thornton allegedly reached around the witness to stab his brother multiple times with a knife, and the witness was flung to the ground. Thornton told D.C. Metro Police that “he stabbed his brother a few times… but was not sure if his brother was alive.”
Seventeen-year-old Lanee Bell was arrested and charged with felony murder (kidnapping) in the death of Latisha Frazier. Bell is the sixth person arrested in the case and is charged as an adult.
Vernon McRae pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 63-year-old Michael Washington, who died after an assault on Oct. 26, 2010 at a Morris Road Southeast apartment. McRae had been charged with second degree murder in the case.
Sixty-five-year-old Clarence Wilson was found dead of an apparent shooting in his Northeast D.C. home. Neighbors told ABC7 that he was found bound with duct tape and gagged.
Laura launched a Tumbler account this week to tell the backstory of Homicide Watch. From the site:
At a recent journalism conference, reporters and editors from across the United States asked me how I was doing it. How a niche website gains traction. How I manage the editorial operations. How I decide what to cover. How I fund my work. How Homicide Watch might work outside of D.C. So I’m opening my notebook.
I don’t have all the answers to these questions, I don’t even have most of the answers. But I’ll share with you what I’m doing, how it’s working, and what I’m reading and thinking about. I hope you’ll share too, and I look forward to a valuable conversation about online, independent public service journalism.
