“A writer. A journalist. A reporter. A poet.”
This is what Curtis Weeks could have been. But he was 16-years-old when he was arrested on suspicion of felony murder while armed. And today, at 18, he received his sentence. Forty years incarceration for the shooting death of Reggie Cook.
“He is a teenager like many other teenagers,” said Weeks’s attorney Maria Hawilo. And those professions reflect things Weeks likes to do, she said.
Sentenced along with Weeks was his co-defendant in the case, nineteen-year-old Aaron Andrews, whose sentence was also 40 years incarceration.
“I don’t think you ever thought you would be in this situation,” Judge Thomas Motley told the young men. “You didn’t intend to kill the decedent. But it was a bold, brazen robbery. The fact of the matter is when you get a gun and go to rob individuals, the likelihood is someone is going to die.”
As for what lies beyond prison for these two young men, Motley offered them the hope that Hawilo had asked for.
With a 40-year sentence, Motley said, they will be younger than Motley is now when they are released, Motley told them.
“You will walk out one day,” he added. “The question is, what do you do when you walk out?”
Sandra Cook, Reggie’s mother, said she wanted an apology today, but didn’t get one. “Their arrogance hurt my heart,” she said. Her son was killed on her birthday.
Yet she asked mercy from Motley.
“I don’t think the highest sentence (should be given). That doesn’t do anything for me,” she said. “I am a Christian and I don’t want them to spend the rest of their lives in jail. It was a robbery gone bad. They’re very young and I’m very sympathetic for their families as well.”
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office is below.
Teenagers Sentenced to 40-Year Prison Terms For Murder, Other Charges in Killing That Took Place During An Attempted Robbery- Victim Was Slain While Trying to Save His Friend -
WASHINGTON - Aaron Andrews, 19, and Curtis Weeks, 18, were each sentenced today to 40 years in prison for killing one man and wounding another in an incident that took place in September 2009 in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced. The murder victim was slain while coming to the aid of his friend during an attempted robbery.
The defendants, both from Washington, D.C., were convicted by a jury in May 2011 of first degree felony murder while armed and other charges, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The defendants also were convicted of charges of second degree murder while armed, attempted armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and various firearms offenses. They were sentenced by the Honorable Thomas J. Motley.
According to the government’s evidence, on September 25, 2009, at about 10 p.m., Andrews and Weeks were in the area near a parking lot in the 1100 block of Eaton Road SE, where several men were taking part in a dice game. During the game, the players were placing money on the ground, in plain view, and Andrews and Weeks took notice. They subsequently left the area, and that was when the decedent, Reggie Cook, arrived. His friends were among those in the dice game, and the 20-year-old Cook wanted to be with them that night.
A short time later, Andrews and Weeks returned to the parking lot - armed with guns. Andrews demanded money at gunpoint from one of the decedent’s friends. As the friend tried to run, Andrews shot him in the stomach. Having seen his friend get shot, Cook came to his friend’s defense by grabbing Andrews’s gun. As Cook and Andrews fought over the gun, Weeks shot Cook in the chin, killing him. The victim was killed on his mother’s birthday.
In announcing the sentences, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the efforts of those who worked on the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), including the lead detective, James Wilson; Detectives Gus Giannakoulias, Eric Fenton, Robert Cephas, William Xanten, Anthony Greene, Joshua Branson, and Norma Horne; Lead Mobile Crime Officer William Hyatt, Mobile Crime Officers Tina Ramadhan, Kemper Agee and Keith Slaughter, and Officers Jeffrey Wade, Marcus Smith and Alvin Lytle.
U.S. Attorney Machen also expressed thanks to the entire trial team from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Tracy Van Atta, who produced numerous trial exhibits; Paul Howell, Kimberly Smith and Joseph Calvarese, who provided technical support and exhibits; paralegal Marian Russell who prepared the case for trial, and criminal investigators Shannon Alexis, John Marsh and Larry Grasso, who provided invaluable assistance with investigative leads. He also acknowledged the work of Laverne Forrest, Debra Cannon, Tanya Via, Michael Hailey, David Foster and Katina Adams of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit for their help in working with witnesses before and during the trial, and Victim Witness Advocate Marcy Rinker, who lent invaluable support to the victim’s family throughout the trial. Finally, he expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Waxman, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
