From the U.S. Attorney’s Office
District Man Pleads Guilty to Two Murders -One Victim Slain on 17th Birthday, Other While With His Family -
WASHINGTON - Cornell Scrivner, 20, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to two counts of second degree murder while armed in two slayings that took place in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Scrivner entered the guilty pleas in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Judge William M. Jackson scheduled sentencing for July 8, 2011. At that time, Scrivner is likely to be sentenced, according to the terms of the plea agreement, to a 25-year prison term.Scrivner pled guilty to charges in the January 8, 2008 murder of Julian Agurs, which took place on January 8, 2008 in the 1300 block of Rhode Island Avenue NE, as well as the murder of Demetrius Matthews, which took place May 17, 2009 in the 1900 block of Second Street NE.
According to the evidence, admitted to by Scrivner in court, Agurs was killed after Scrivner and co-defendant Antonio R. Harvey fired out of a car in the 1300 block of Rhode Island Avenue NE at a group of eight youths from the Saratoga neighborhood. The gunfire followed an exchange of words between Harvey and Agurs, who was celebrating his 17th birthday with friends. Scrivner and Harvey fired a fusillade of shots, one of which passed through Agurs’s heart as he ran from the scene. Agurs was pronounced dead at the hospital. Harvey previously was convicted in this crime.
Scrivner also admitted to evidence that on May 17, 2009, at about 4 a.m., he and another person approached 20-year-old Demetrius Matthews in the 1900 block of Second Street NE. Matthews was with his mother and step-father. Scrivner lived in the area; Matthews did not. An argument ensued, and Scrivner and the second man drew their weapons and shot Matthews multiple times, killing him. Matthews was unarmed. After the murder, Scrivner and the second shooter fled to Scrivner’s home less than a block away.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the dedicated and outstanding work of those who worked on the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), including Homicide Detectives Thomas Braxton, Brian Wise and Tony Patterson, and District Detectives Carol Queen, Jamell G. Stallings, Carter Adams and Kristal Boyd. He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim Witness specialists Marcey Rinker and Laverne Forrest; and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Saybolt, who prosecuted the case.
