Antoine Taylor was sentenced today to 17 years in prison on a charge of second-degree murder while armed in the shooting death of Joshua Hopkins.
A press release from the US Attorney’s Office is after the jump.
Maryland Man Sentenced to 17-Year Prison Term For 2010 Killing at Northeast Washington Park- Victim Was a 19-Year-Old College Student -
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Antoine Taylor, 30, of Fort Washington, Md., has been sentenced to 17 years of incarceration for the July 2010 slaying of a 19-year-old college student, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced today.
Taylor pled guilty in October 2011 to a charge of second-degree murder while armed. He was sentenced on January 6, 2012 by the Honorable Gerald I. Fisher in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
According to the government’s evidence, early July 3, 2010, a group of men and women were gathered at Watts Park, in the 6100 block of Banks Place NE, to celebrate the holiday weekend. They included the victim, Joshua Hopkins, a former summer intern for U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, who had recently completed his first year of college. While at the gathering, Taylor and the victim jokingly traded insults while onlookers laughed at the comments. At some point, the exchange turned serious, and Taylor became angry, took off his shirt, and started chasing Hopkins. Others kept the two from fighting, and Taylor walked away.
Hopkins and the others remained at the park and continued their conversations. Approximately 30 to 45 minutes later, witnesses heard the sound of a gunshot and saw Hopkins fall to the ground. They noticed Taylor standing where Hopkins had been, with a pistol in his hand. Taylor cursed at Hopkins and walked away.
As people scattered, a friend attempted to revive the victim, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Paramedics transported Hopkins to the Washington Hospital Center, where he died from his injuries.
In announcing the sentence , U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of those who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department, including Detectives Earl Delauder, Jeffrey Clay, Jr. Dwayne Partman, Carter Adams, Bryan Kasul, Gail Russell Brown, and King Watts; Sixth District Officers Matthew Jones and Sean Kenney, and Mobile Crime Lab technicians Tina Ramadhan, Ridley Durham, Petheria McIver, Eric Coker and Valerie Campbell. Mr. Machen also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Alesha Matthews Yette, Victim/Witness Assistance Advocate Marcey Rinker, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Wheeler, who prosecuted the case.
