Judge Ronna Beck sentenced Davon Holmes Friday to 24 years in prison for the 2011 stabbing death of 24-year-old Marcellus Terrell Bailey.
“There really is no sentence I can impose to really address your loss,” Judge Beck said to Bailey’s family Friday. “But due to the vicious nature of this crime I am imposing a sentence at the high end of the guidelines.”
Police found Bailey August 3, 2011 at approximately 2:45 a.m. on the 5300 block of 8th Street Northwest suffering from a laceration to his neck. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Over a month later Holmes, 30, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed.
Holmes was found guilty in July of second-degree murder while armed in connection with Bailey’s death.
Charging documents state that the morning of the murder a witness said Holmes and Bailey were “talking and laughing” together when Holmes suddenly swung out, hitting Bailey in the neck.
During trial one witness said that Holmes “sliced” Bailey, causing him to bleed profusely from his neck. Holmes fled the scene on foot before entering a van that drove him away from the crime scene, the witness said. An autopsy found that Bailey died from a seven inch stab wound to the neck.
“I am remorseful for the life that was taken,” Holmes said Friday.
Holmes’ defense attorney, Jenifer Wicks, argued Friday that Holmes has accepted what he has done, but prosecutors said that Holmes killed Bailey in a barbaric manner, and caused a profound loss to his family.
At sentencing Bailey’s mother, Sharon Rollins, played a song for the court that Bailey produced and rapped in. She also brought pictures of her son to show Judge Beck, calling them memories of things Bailey loved to do.
“Both of my sons are gone,” Rollins said with tears flowing down her face. “I’ll never have any grandkids to see me in my old age.”
A press release is below
A previous version of this story misstated that “Marcellus Bailey” fled the scene of the crime in a van. It was Davon Holmes, the defendant.
United States Attorney’s Office
District of Columbia
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.District Man Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison
For 2011 Slaying in Northwest Washington
-Defendant Stabbed Victim in the Neck-WASHINGTON –Devon Holmes, 30, also known as “Jamaica,” of Washington D.C., was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for the August 2011 slaying of a man in Northwest Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Holmes was found guilty by a jury in July 2013 of a charge of second-degree murder while armed, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Ronna L. Beck. Upon completion of his prison term, Holmes will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the evidence at trial, at about 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2011, in the area of 8th and Jefferson Streets NW, Holmes slashed the victim, Marcellus T. Bailey, 24, in the neck with a sharp object, causing a gaping wound and loss of blood. Holmes fled the scene. Mr. Bailey died a short while later. The motive for the attack is unknown. Holmes was arrested on Sept. 9, 2011, and has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended those who worked on the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), including detectives, mobile crime technicians, and others. He also expressed appreciation for the work of Special Agent Kevin R. Horan of the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST). In addition, he acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Fern Rhedrick and Mia Beamon; Litigation Support Services Specialists Jeanie Latimore-Brown, Kimberly Smith, Claudia Gutierrez, Joshua Ellen, and Joseph Calvarese; Victim/Witness Advocates Marcia Rinker and Tamara Ince; Victim/Witness Services Supervisor David Foster; Witness Security Specialists M. Laverne Forrest and Michael Hailey; Criminal Investigators Mark Crawford and Christopher Brophy, and Intelligence Research Specialists Zachary McMenamin, Sharon Johnson, and Shannon Alexis.
Finally, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert J. Feitel and Kathryn L. Rakoczy, who prosecuted the case at trial.
