Who Are D.C.'s Homicide Victims?

Violence in D.C. left three people dead this weekend, bringing the annual homicide count to 18. As Emily Babay at the Washington Examiner reports, that’s nearly 30 percent over the death toll at this time last year.

A Quick Note on Comments

In just over four months, Homicide Watch D.C. readers have posted 657 comments on reports throughout the site. As you may know from reading the comments policy, all comments are moderated and must be approved by an editor before they are published. Comments are never edited; they are simply approved or not approved. I’m happy to report that only a small handful of comments have not meet that criteria for publication.

If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read the comments policy, amended today to include a provision for comments that include personal attacks on other commentors and their opinions.

Most of all, thank you for being engaged readers. The conversations happening here are important and, I believe, can make a difference.

Javoricle Moore Arrested in 2009 Metro Bus Homicide Case

A nineteen year old Southeast D.C. man was arrested today on suspicion on first degree murder in the 2009 shooting death of George Rawlings. Javoricle Moore is the third suspect arrested in the case.

Rawlings, 21, was shot to death Nov. 11, 2009 at about 11:45 a.m. His body was found “lying on the step of a Metro bus” in the 1300 block of H Street NE, according to MPD’s press release (after the jump).

City Paper has charging documents for an earlier arrest in the case.
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Terrell Kelly Ordered Held in Death of Kyree Seabook

Terrell Kelly, a 27-year-old Southeast D.C. man, was ordered held without bail this morning in the fatal and violent assault on Kyree Seabook in November 2009.

In finding substantial probability in the case during today’s preliminary hearing, Judge Lynn Leibovitz called the attack on Seabook “brutal and disproportionate.”

Seabook, MPD Homicide Detective Dwayne Partman said at the hearing, was dragged into an alley, beaten, kicked and stabbed after he confronted two men about grabbing a bottle of liquor from someone on the street.
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18-year-old Arrested in June 2010 Killing of Charles Logan

MPD detectives have arrested an 18-year-old D.C. man on suspicion of killing 46-year-old Charles Logan of Hyattsville, Md. in June 2010. Aaron Benton of Northeast, D.C, was arrested Monday and presented with a charge of first degree murder while armed. He is due in court March 28 for a preliminary hearing.
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Antwon Holcomb Convicted in Slaying of Anthony Perkins

The U.S. State’s Attorney’s Office today announced the conviction of 21-year-old Antwon Holcomb on first degree murder charges in the death of Anthony Perkins, 29.

District Man Convicted of First Degree Felony Murder While Armed, Killed Victim in December 2009 Robbery

WASHINGTON - Antwon Holcomb, 21, was convicted today by a jury of first degree (felony) murder while armed and other charges in a killing that took place during a robbery in December 2009 in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

Holcomb, of Washington, D.C., also was convicted of charges of armed robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and carrying a pistol without a license outside the home. The verdict followed a five-day trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
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Temporary Courtroom Assignment Change

For the next six weeks Judge William Jackson will be using courtroom 319 and Judge Thomas Motley will be using courtroom 302. The change is because of Judge’s Motley’s schedule, a court official said.

Homicide Watch will note the change and appropriate courtroom in each Week Ahead.

Judge Motley’s calendar this Friday will be heard in courtroom 302.

Tragedy in Trinidad: The search for justice

WTOP’s series on the murder of 13-year-old Alonzo Robinson in Trinidad in 2008 wraps up today with part three, and a plaintive cry from Robinson’s mother, Marcella.

I think I’m officially in hell,” she says.

A jury trial in the case is due to start Tuesday.

WTOP: The failure of crime control

Part two of WTOP’s four part series: Tragedy in Trinidad is online now; the first part debuted yesterday.

Here’s an excerpt; read the whole report on WTOP.com.
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Reporting Series to Look at 2008 Shooting Death of Teen Alonzo Robinson

WTOP today published the first section of a three part series looking at the shooting death of 13-year-old Alonzo Robinson in Trinidad in 2008.

The 2008 fatal shooting of 13-year-old Alonzo Robinson in the Trinidad neighborhood of D.C. helped spark the second incarnation of the Metropolitan Police Department’s now dormant Neighborhood Safety Zones initiative and focused attention on the violence taking place in the city’s Northeast quadrant.

Now, nearly three years later, a trial for the young men accused in the events surrounding the teenager’s death is expected to begin. In a three-part series, WTOP takes a look at the night of Robinson’s death, the response by city police and the subsequent search for justice.