Rodney McIntyre pleaded guilty today to premeditated first-degree murder while armed in the death of his 17-year-old daughter, Ebony Franklin.
McIntyre appeared in front of Judge Lynn Leibovitz to make his plea today. Prosecutors have agreed to seek a term of 37 to 40 years for the 45-year-old defendant.
Franklin was found in a Columbia Heights trash can last November, prompting community outrage and concern that grew as the case lingered without an arrest for almost six months. Some of that concern came from McIntyre himself, who asked police, through the media, “what really happened with my daughter?”
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Read the plea deal below and a press release from the USAO after the jump.
District Man Pleads Guilty to First Degree Murder While Armed
In the Killing of His Teenage Daughter
- He Left Her Body in a Trash Can, Tried to Cover Up the Crime -WASHINGTON - Rodney Mc Intyre, 45, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a charge of first degree murder while armed in the slaying of his 17-year-old daughter, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Mc Intyre pled guilty this morning in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He is to be sentenced October 27, 2011 by the Honorable Lynn Leibovitz. If the plea agreement is approved by the judge, Mc Intyre will be sentenced to a prison term of 37 to 40 years.
According to a statement of facts presented today, and signed by the defendant, the victim, Ebony Franklin, was raised by her mother in Maryland but maintained a relationship with her father. On Friday, November 26, 2010, she was to meet him in the Columbia Heights area of Northwest Washington to shop for Christmas presents. After that meeting, she was to return to her mother’s home in Maryland to complete her chores. Once those chores were completed, Ebony planned to spend the weekend with her father as well as visit her boyfriend.
Upon arriving in the District on November 26, Ebony met with her father near Meyer Elementary School, where Mc Intyre worked for an after-school program. At the school, in the 2500 block of 11th Street NW, Mc Intyre stabbed the victim at least 15 times, causing her death.
At some point after the murder, Mc Intyre disposed of his daughter’s body by placing it in a trash can. He then covered the body with trash and wheeled the can to the rear of a building in the 1000 block of Fairmont Street NW. Ebony’s body was discovered three days later.
Between May 2008 and the time of her murder, Mc Intyre engaged in sexual intercourse with his daughter on multiple occasions. Before the body was discovered, he attempted to conceal his daughter’s disappearance and murder. He used her cellphone to send multiple text messages, including some directed to her stepfather that asked if her mother was upset that she had not come home. On the morning of November 28, 2010, Mc Intyre used the cellphone to send a text message to the victim’s mother, saying, among other things, “Remember.the.bitch.told.on.my.man.now.yoo.get.her.out.the.trash.”
The defendant also visited local police stations over the weekend to report that Ebony was missing. He was arrested for the murder in May and has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Machen praised those who worked on the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Detectives Thomas Braxton and Lee Littlejohn, Paralegal Specialist Alesha Matthews Yette, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine, who prosecuted the case.
Plea documents have been added to this post.
