Nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Britt was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for the shooting death of George Rawlings after the funeral of a mutual friend.
A press release from the US Attorney’s office is after the jump.
District Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison For Murder at Bus Stop Following Funeral Service - Defendant and Two Others Attacked Victim After Seeing Him at the Funeral Home -
WASHINGTON - Jeffrey Britt, 19, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a prison term of 20 years for the murder of George Rawlings, which took place at a bus stop just after the funeral services for a mutual friend, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Britt pled guilty in April 2011 to charges of second degree murder while armed and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. He was sentenced by the Honorable Lynn Leibovitz, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to concurrent terms of 20 years for the murder charge and five years for the firearms offense.
According to the government’s evidence, on November 11, 2009, at approximately 11:30 a.m., George Rawlings, 21, was leaving the funeral service for his childhood friend, Ashton Hunter, at the Capitol Mortuary, 1425 Maryland Ave. NE, when he encountered Britt and several other young men who had grown up in the area of Seventh and O Streets NW.
As Rawlings walked to a nearby store and then to a Metro bus stop, Britt and two other young men (who later became his co-defendants) followed after him. At the time, Britt and his co-defendants were each carrying loaded handguns. Once at the bus stop, near the intersection of 14th and H Streets NE, Britt and his accomplices began to approach Rawlings as he boarded a Metro bus. They walked up behind the victim, and each pulled out a loaded handgun.
One of the co-defendants then repeatedly fired at Rawlings, hitting him numerous times. Britt then fired twice at the victim. Once they finished shooting, the three gunmen ran back toward the funeral home and eventually escaped from the area.
The victim was hit 11 times and later died from his injuries.
The co-defendants - Javorick Moore, 19, of Washington, D.C., and D’Angelo Edwards, 21, of Landover, Md., - earlier pled guilty to second degree murder charges in the case and are awaiting sentencing.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen expressed his appreciation to the Metropolitan Police Department, and particularly praised the work of Detectives Eric Fenton, Robert Cephas, Gus Giannakoulias, James Wilson, Anthony Greene, Norma Horne, Gabriel Truby, Joshua Branson, Thomas Webb, Joseph Crespo, as well as Officer Thomas Ellingsworth, and Mobile Crime Technicians James Holder, George Klein, John Holder, Tamika Pringle, Nathaniel Covington, Tish Lyons, Thomas Coughlin , Brenda Floyd, Tina Ramadhan, David Murray, and A.P. Holmes. U.S. Attorney Machen also commended U.S. Attorney’s Office paralegals Deborah Joyner and Phaylyn Hunt, paralegal supervisor Wanda Queen, and Intelligence Research Specialists Lawrence Grasso and William Hamann. Finally, he commended former Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Gallun, who indicted this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gorman, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
