Jurors tasked with deciding Raymond Roseboro‘s guilt in the death of 16-year-old Prince Okorie told a judge this afternoon that they were deadlocked.
The judge, Russell Canan, instructed the jury to continue deliberating, a spokeswoman for DC Superior Court said.
Roseboro is charged with first-degree murder while armed. His attorney, James Rudasill, said in closing arguments that Roseboro is innocent of all charges against him, including murder.
According to charging documents in the case, a witness to Okorie’s death “heard a gunshot, looked, and saw [Roseboro] armed with a gun in [his] hand and [Okorie] on the ground. As [the witness] turned away, it heard additional gunshots.”
Said MPD Chief Cathy Lanier at Roseboro’s arrest: “This homicide occurred on an afternoon on a residential street. Members of the community offered information and have been anxious to see this case come to a closure. Our communities have spoken - this city is not a place where you can get away with murder.”
On the stand at trial, Roseboro said he was home with his mother, cousin, and girlfriend waiting for an appointment with a jobs counselor the afternoon that Okorie was killed.
Jury deliberations began Tuesday afternoon. The note indicating that the jury was deadlocked was the first note jurors have sent to Canan in connection with their deliberations.
