Three men charged with killing 71-year-old Solomon Reese have now also been formally charged with obstruction of justice in connection with the shooting death of one of the witnesses in the case.
James Brewer, Stephen Page, and Anthony Thomas, pled innocent to the charge in court Thursday.
The charge was part of a superseding indictment. Brewer, Page, and Thomas pled innocent in April to charges including first-degree murder while armed and burglary. That indictment alleges that Brewer, Page, Thomas, and a fourth person conspired to rob Reese at his Southeast DC apartment in June 2011. Once they arrived at the apartment, they threatened and fought with Reese and another person who lived at his home. After shooting Reese, they took two leather bags and cigarettes.
The superseding indictment alleges that Brewer, Page, and Thomas met on July 9, 2011 to discuss the status of the case against them and, in that conversation, discussed killing Dwight Hicks, who they believed could provide information about the case to detectives. Later that same day Brewer and Page drove Hicks to Prince George’s County to kill him.
Hicks was found shot in Capitol Heights, Md. at about 12:42 a.m. on July 10, 2011. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The superseding indictment also formally adds Bradley Allen as a co-defendant in the case, charging him with helping James Brewer escape from custody while at DC Superior Court.
Brewer is accused of exchanging identification bracelets with Allen and using Allen’s name when asked to identify himself. Brewer, posing as Allen, was released from custody and walked out of the courthouse and away from the felony murder charge.
Allen is expected in court July 3 to answer to the charge.
Read the indictment below:
