The US Attorney’s Office today issued the following news release about the “guilty” verdict in Rickey Pharr‘s murder trial yesterday. For more about the case see this page.
District Man Convicted of First-Degree Premeditated Murder While Armed in 2010 Slaying in Northeast Washington - Defendant Shot Victim Multiple Times in the Back -
WASHINGTON - Rickey Pharr, 28, of Washington, D.C., has been convicted by a jury of first-degree premeditated murder while armed, obstruction of justice, and related charges stemming from a 2010 slaying in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced today.Pharr was convicted of the charges on February 29, 2012, following a two-week trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He is to be sentenced on April 27, 2012 by the Honorable Thomas J. Motley. Pharr faces a minimum of 35 years in prison for his crimes.
According to the government’s evidence, Pharr and the victim, Angelo Jones, 31, were both involved in a dice game early October 2, 2010, in a parking lot in the 5300 block of Dix Street NE, when Pharr began to call Mr. Jones “hot,” accusing him of being a government informant. Following an argument between the two, Pharr went to another person and requested a gun, but he eventually left the area near the dice game. Pharr later returned armed with a gun and shot Mr. Jones six times in the back of his body as he tried to walk away from the defendant.
After the murder, Pharr fled to his own neighborhood where he admitted to multiple witnesses that he had just “slumped” a person - meaning that he had killed a person. Pharr then went on to actively hide evidence and recruit his friends to provide false alibis to the police and to his own lawyer.
A second man, Curtis Patterson, 23, also of Washington, D.C., also was charged in this offense. He has pled not guilty and is awaiting trial on April 9, 2012 before Judge Motley.
In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of those who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), including Detectives Konstantinos Giannakoulias, James Wilson, Robert Cephas, Anthony Greene, Gabriel Truby, Joshua Branson, Norma Horne, and Michael Wiggins; Sgt. Habbebullah Pettegrue; Officers Robert Elliot and Natali Thomas; Mobile Crime Technicians Kemper Agee, Leother Strong, Pertheria McIver, Tony Nwani, Tina Ramadhan, and Brenda Floyd; Firearms Examiner Michael Mulderig, and Dr. Joseph Pestaner of the District of Columbia Medical Examiner’s Office.
U.S. Attorney Machen also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Criminal Investigator John Marsh; Litigation Technology Specialists Kimberly Smith, Paul Howell, and William Henderson; Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker and Security Specialists Michael Hailey, Maretta Forrest, and Tanya Via of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit, and Paralegal Delissa Rivers. Finally, he expressed his appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Reagan M. Taylor, who investigated the case and prosecuted it at trial.
