Sean Carter pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of second-degree murder, telling Judge Robert Morin that he killed Biddley Warren in August.
U.S. Marshals arrested Carter, 22, in Atlanta in October. He was later extradited to the District of Columbia. Prosecutors said he confessed his involvement to police investigators while in custody.
Prosecutors said Carter killed Warren, 22, in the 1000 block of Rhode Island Avenue Northeast, shooting at Warren and a teen Warren was walking with as they ran away from him. According to charging documents, he told investigators he meant to scare Warren, not kill him.
Officers found Warren unconscious at about 10:15 p.m. that night; he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Carter’s attorney, Madalyn Harvey, said that Warren had assaulted Carter in the past and had made threats against his family — a contention prosecutors took issue with.
“There was no self-defense here,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Fulton said.
Carter, too, told Morin he didn’t want to pursue the issue further at a trial.
Carter faces a sentence of between 10 and 30 years for the second-degree murder while armed charge. He also pleaded guilty to assault with intent to kill, which carries a sentence of two to 15 years.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped first-degree murder charges against Carter.
Morin is scheduled to sentence Carter April 12 at 11:30 a.m.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office is below:
WASHINGTON – Sean Carter, 22, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to charges of second-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill stemming from a shooting last year in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Carter pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Robert E. Morin scheduled sentencing for April 12, 2013. Carter faces up to 45 years in prison.
According to the government’s evidence, on Aug. 23, 2012, at approximately 10:15 p.m., Carter saw Bidley Warren, 22, walking with a teenager on Rhode Island Avenue NE. Carter recognized both of them and went to his nearby home, where he retrieved a gun. Then he hurried toward them in the 1000 block of Rhode Island Avenue.
When Mr. Warren and the teenager saw Carter approaching with the gun, they ran away from him. Carter chased after them and began shooting. Mr. Warren tripped and fell, and the teenager stopped to check on him. Carter, meanwhile, shot again at the teenager, nearly striking him in the head. Due to the assault with gunfire, the teenager was forced to leave Mr. Warren behind and he ran away. Carter then stood over Mr. Warren and shot Mr. Warren in the head. Mr. Warren died soon afterward from the gunshot wound to his head.
After the murder, Carter fled to Atlanta. He was apprehended there by the U.S. Marshals Service on Oct. 2, 2012. The next day, Carter admitted to two detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) that he chased and shot at Mr. Warren and the teenager, and that he then shot Mr. Warren in the head while Mr. Warren was on the ground.
