Deangelo Williams, accused of killing Cardozo High School senior Lucki Pannell, was implicated in the shooting by four witnesses, at least two of whom witnessed the shooting, and others who gained knowledge of the events afterwards.
Williams, 21, appeared in court Saturday and was ordered held for a preliminary hearing. He was arrested Friday on suspicion of first-degree murder. Police say Williams shot and killed 18-year-old Pannell in February 2011.
According to charging documents, Williams was a known member of the “Clifton Terrace University” gang, which at the time of Pannell’s death, was feuding with a rival gang, the “Hobart Stars.”
Two witnesses to the shooting told police they saw a black man wearing a ski mask approach the porch where Pannell was sitting with two men. The masked man shot at the porch, knocking the three victims off the porch and sending them tumbling to the ground.
Both witnesses initially said they didn’t recognize the man in the ski mask. When one of them was later arrested on unrelated charges, though, he told investigators he had seen the masked man earlier. He then identified Williams from a photo spread, documents say, and another witness later corroborated the claims.
One of the surviving victims, Terry Jimenez, was the intended target in the shooting, D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham said in June 2011. After Pannell’s death, Jimenez was involved in a shootout between “CTU” and the “Hobart Stars” at the Caribbean Festival in Columbia Heights, which killed Robert Foster Jr. Jimenez, one of three men arrested in connection with Foster’s death, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder while armed on Friday.
Williams is due before Judge Herbert Dixon May 7 at 9:30 a.m. for a preliminary hearing.
Charging documents are below:
