Tyrell Fogle was chased through Langston Terrace, a masked gunman in pursuit firing at him. Isaiah Sheffield was fired upon when he rode his bike down 21st Street Northeast. Steven Moore was simply found shot, early in the evening of Dec. 3, in the 1100 block of 21st Street Northeast.
Three deaths in five months in one DC neighborhood.
This month a DC grand jury charged five men with those crimes, saying that the murders were part of a neighborhood feud that pitted one group, “21st and Vietnam,” against another, “E Street.”
The indictment was filed May 8 and obtained by Homicide Watch Friday.
The indictment includes a total of 21 counts including conspiracy, first-degree murder, obstruction of justice, assault, and weapons charges. It states that the violent campaign was undertaken to protect members of “21st and Vietnam” and the streets they claimed as their own territory for drug dealing.
The five men charged in the indictment, Kevin Charles, Johnnie Harris, Anthony Hatton, Stanley Moghalu, and Jewkan Smith, are suspected of being members of “21st and Vietnam.” As members of the group, they are suspected of taking part in the series of attacks that injured one person and killed Fogle, Sheffield, and Moore.
Tyrell Fogle
Fogle, 17, was killed Aug. 29, 2011. Hatton was arrested in connection with Fogle’s death that same night. Two MPD officers witnessed the shooting and chased Hatton through the neighborhood. Hatton eventually dropped a gun, put his hands up, and came out of some bushes where he was hiding, Detective Alfred Thomas Austin-Braxton testified at a preliminary hearing in September. The indictment states that Fogle is believed to have been connected to “E Street.”
Isaiah Sheffield
Sheffield, 24, was killed Sept. 24, 2011. Smith was arrested in connection with Sheffield’s death about a month later. MPD Detective Dwayne Partman testified at a preliminary hearing that detectives knew then that Sheffield’s shooting death was part of a neighborhood beef.
While Partman testified that there was “no information” that Sheffield was participating in the feud, the indictment states that he is believed to have been connected to “E Street.”
Steven Moore
Moore, 36, was killed Dec. 3, 2011. A press release from MPD on Friday said that Charles, Harris, and Moghalu, were arrested Wednesday in connection with Moore’s death. The indictment charges that Moore was killed not for associating with a rival group, but because he was capable of assisting law enforcement in investigations. Because of that the murder charges in his case could carry an additional penalty.
Court records, except for the indictment, in all three of the homicides have been sealed. A status hearing is scheduled for later this month.
Read the indictment below.
