A jury found Demonta Chappell guilty of first-degree premeditated murder while armed in the 2012 shooting death of Stevann Moorer.
Jurors delivered the verdict Wednesday afternoon after less than two days of deliberations.
During trial, an eyewitness testified that she saw Chappell shoot Moorer multiple times.
“While I was walking back home, I cut through the park and noticed two males behind me,” Doris Bronson testified. “As I continued to walk ahead, the two passed by me.”
Shortly after, Bronson said, she heard a gunshot. She saw Chappell aim the gun at Moorer’s head, then shoot him once and, after he fell, shoot him two more times.
In addition to murder, jurors found Chappell guilty of two firearm offenses and obstruction of justice. But, Judge Rhonda Reid Winston told attorneys that she wasn’t sure if there was enough evidence proving the obstruction of justice charge. She ordered the attorneys to submit a debriefing on the matter.
D.C. jail flagged an outgoing letter on May 21, when the inmate’s name on the return address didn’t exist and obtained a second letter in Chappell’s possession, Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica Sanchez said. A handwriting analyst testified that two letters obtained by the D.C. jail were written by Chappell.
Sanchez argued at trial that Chappell was trying to ask someone to provide a false alibi for the night of the murder.
“Make sure you don’t write me back because they read my incoming mail,” Chappell wrote.
Chappell is scheduled for a sentencing hearing Jan. 27, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Winston.
