A thirty-year-old D.C. man found guilt of voluntary manslaughter was sentenced today to 22 years in prison for the crime that he maintains was committed only to “take care of” his family.
Marcus Silver offered Shadawnchea Gardner’s family his “remorse and condolences” at his sentencing Friday, saying “there is just so much I want his family to know.”
Prosecutors proved at Silver’s trial, which was held in February, that Gardner, Silver’s ex-girlfriend and another woman went to Silver’s Northeast D.C. apartment on March 10, 2010 to retrieve a video game. At the apartment, Silver’s ex-girlfriend got into an argument with his current girlfriend. When Gardner tried to separate the woman, Silver shot him in the head, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“I never meant to cause harm to no one. I only feared for my family’s life,” Silver said at sentencing, characterizing himself as a family man concerned for his family’s safety and well-being.
He said he still fears for the safety his fiance and son who live in the apartment where the homicide took place. It’s possible, Silver said, that they could be harmed by someone looking to avenge Gardner’s death.
Of the trial he added, “the truth was not all there.”
Gardner’s mother spoke at Friday’s sentencing, addressing the court but not Silver.
“I know God… knows for a fact what went down. In my heart, I know what went down. And I know in his heart [Mr. Silver] knows what went down,” said Gardner’s mother.
Of her son she said, “he’s looking down on us and expecting something to be done right by him.”
Fisher’s sentence of 22 years, with probation after 85 percent of the sentence is served, is higher than the 13 years Mullin asked for on her client’s behalf.
Still, the sentence could have been much stricter if Silver had been convicted of the first-degree murder while armed charge that prosecutors argued and on which he was indicted in June.
Instead, Fisher said, jurors were likely swayed by the argument that the “events [were] not initiated by Mr. Silver” and that “Mr. Gardner maybe at some level supplied problems.”
“I don’t doubt that you’re a good parent and a good provider,” Fisher said, but added that Gardner was still killed “in cold blood.”
Appearing composed, Silver spoke thoughtfully while making his statement, at times turning his back to the court in order to address Gardner’s family. But upon sentencing, he appeared withdrawn and deeply subdued, at one point asking Fisher to repeat a question and appearing to have trouble concentrating on what he was being asked.
His defense attorney, Elizabeth Mullin, said Silver plans to appeal his case. He has thirty days to do so.
Read the complaint, verdict and sentencing report, and USAO press release below.
District Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison For March 2010 Slaying in Northeast Washington
- Victim Shot While Trying to Break Up Altercation -WASHINGTON - Marcus C. Silver, 30, of Washington D.C., was sentenced today to 22 years of incarceration on charges stemmiong from a slaying that took place in March 2010 in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Silver was convicted in February 2011 by a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia of charges of manslaughter while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, and various firearms offenses. He was sentenced today by the Honorable Gerald I. Fisher.
According to the government’s evidence, members of the Fourth District of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) were called about 7:40 p.m. on March 10, 2010 to the unit block of Hawaii Avenue NE. Upon arrival, they found the victim, Shadawnchea Gardner, 26, outside an apartment building. He was suffering from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, and died later that night.
An investigation revealed that Gardner had accompanied Silver’s ex-girlfriend and another woman to Hawaii Avenue that evening to get a video game from Silver. The ex-girlfriend got into a physical altercation at the scene with Silver’s current girlfriend. While Gardner was trying to separate the women, Silver walked up to him and shot him in the head. Silver also fired at his ex-girlfriend, who was not injured. He then fled the scene.
At approximately 12:45 a.m. on March 11, 2010, the defendant was observed drinking in a public building in the 1300 block of Fort Stevens Drive NW. He was recognized to be the individual who was being sought in the shooting on Hawaii Avenue and subsequently arrested.
Subsequently, two pistols were recovered from under a vehicle near the Hawaii Avenue address. One, a .25 caliber semi-automatic, was identified as the murder weapon. A witness also had observed a man matching the description of the defendant placing something in the area where the guns were found shortly after the shooting.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the investigative efforts of the lead detective, Carol Queen, formerly of the Homicide Unit, and Detectives Dwayne Partman, Monica Shields and Michael Fulton of the Homicide Unit. He also acknowledged the work of Fourth District Officers Jeffrey Masalona, Darenn Bemiller, as well as Detectives Ebony Boyd, Alfonso Matos, Clifton Murphy, and Eric Garcia -Burgos.
U.S. Attorney Machen also cited the efforts of officers and technicians from MPD’s Forensic Services Division, including Keith Slaughter, James Savage, Julius Smith, Petheria McIver, Kemper Agee, Brenda Floyd, Ridley Durham, Tony Nwani, and Ralph Nitz. He also expressed appreciation to MPD Officer Maria Nicholson, Deputy Medical Examiner Carolyn Revercomb, Firearms Examiner Michael Mulderig, Marcy Rinker of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and paralegal specialists Sandra Lane and Alesha Yette. Finally, he acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys John J. Soroka, who prosecuted the case through trial, and Charles W. Cobb, who handled the sentencing.
