A weekend story from the Washington Post tackles Mayor-elect Vincent Gray’s approach to DYRS and the recent attention on youths in the program who were victims or perpetrators of homicide this year.
As mayor, Gray (D) will inherit responsibility for all the problems of an agency that, improved as it is from five years ago, still struggles to supervise and rehabilitate the city’s youngest offenders. After the events of the past year, the city is again debating its obligation to help and its inclination to punish.
“It’s a balance; it’s got to be a balance,” Gray said in a brief interview last week. “I think the trick is finding what the right balance is.”
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A Friday roundup of recent obituaries for D.C. homicide victims:
Rodney Bean obituary
Jinnell McQueen obituary
Prince Okorie obituary
Services were held on Saturday December 11, 2010 at 10:30am at The Mormon Temple, Kensington MD. Interment in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suitland, Maryland.
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I’ve been asked a lot in the past few weeks about how Homicide Watch D.C. is covering the DC9 case. The answer, for now, is that we’re not.
The controversy is over the death of 27-year old Ali Ahmed Mohammed, who, by some accounts, died after being beaten outside the DC9 nightclub. I say “by some accounts” because we’re being really careful here; the medical examiner has not ruled yet on the cause of Mohammed’s death and it is not (at this time) being prosecuted as a homicide. Which is why Mohammed is not currently listed as a victim on this site.
But I came across this post today on an Ethiopian community website that made me rethink Homicide Watch’s decision to not publish anything until we know more. Read more
Crime mapping site EveryBlock is reporting a homicide that occurred on Dec. 8 in the 1800 block of Bryant St. NE. According to the site, a person was killed by blunt force trauma at some point on Dec. 8.
Metro Police Spokeswoman Officer Tisha Gant said Metro has no report of a homicide at that location and suggested that Homicide Watch contact EveryBlock regarding their data. We’ve done that and are waiting to hear back from them.
A listing of all reported crimes in the District is available for download here (zip). That spreadsheet shows no record of a homicide on the 1800 block of Bryant St. NE at any point this year.
There were two other deaths reported on Dec. 8: Tawanna Barnes-Copeland and Scott Staten.
Question to readers: Do you use EveryBlock? Do you trust their data? Have you ever found inconsistencies with what you know to have happened (or not happened)?
Dear Readers;
Homicide Watch D.C. is trying to build a digital library of homicide case documents and we need your help.
We have only 17 days left in a fundraising effort on Spot.Us, a crowd-sourced community journalism funding network. In 17 days we need to raise $2,000. The funding goes directly to Homicide Watch D.C. to help build the site into an even better resource.
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A Metro Police spokeswoman said this morning that there is no new information to release in Saturday’s Anacostia shooting, including the identity of the man who was killed.
Homicide Watch received a tip yesterday that that person is Antonio Wade.
Officer Tisha Gant said the public information office had not received any additional information on the case since the original report on Dec. 11 and could not confirm the victim’s identity.
Here’s Metro Police’s original release:
Multiple Shooting Incidents in the Sixth District
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating multiple shootings that led to a fatality.Read more
Homicide Watch D.C. received a tip this morning that the deceased victim in a shooting Saturday that left one person dead and four injured is Antonio Wade. Metro Police have not released the victim’s identity. Homicide Watch has a call in to their media line seeking more information and has not had confirmation that the tip we got is correct.
Facebook and Twitter R.I.P posts from D.C. residents are mentioning an Antonio Wade, who died Saturday, according to the posts.
We will update this post as more information becomes available. If you have information to share, please leave a comment or email homicidewatchdc [at] gmail.com.
The Washington Times makes the connection:
Raymond Roseboro was actively in city custody when police say he killed Prince Okorie, who three weeks before his Nov. 30 killing had himself been placed at a DYRS-licensed shelter.
DYRS sources confirmed Mr. Roseboro’s commitment status but were unavailable to provide additional details. Court records indicate he had been arrested in Maryland in July 2009 for theft under $500 and resisting arrest. He was arrested again in Maryland in August 2009 for carrying a handgun. In each case, prosecutors declined to pursue the charges.
He was charged in April in the District with disorderly conduct and failure to obey an officer. The case was disposed of in April after he paid fines.
This follows the Times ongoing series investigating violence among Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services wards.
DC Fire and EMS responded early this morning to a shooting in Southeast D.C. that injured at least four people. Others in D.C. tweeted about sounds of gunshots and a shooting at a house party that injured several people and killed one. I contacted Metro Police in the Sixth District for more information.
Update 12:10 p.m.: The Washington Post gets some details:
Officers responded at about 2:30 a.m. to a report of shots fired the 1700 block of 14th St. SE and found a man with apparent gunshot wounds, a police spokesman, Officer Hugh Carew, said Saturday. The man was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, Carew said.
While officers were on the 14th Street scene, a report came in of gunshot victims a couple of hundred feet away, in the 1400 block of Ridge Place SE. There, officers found three people with gunshot wounds who were transported to the hospital, Carew said. Another person shot in that incident went to the hospital separately, Carew said.
The Washington Examiner is also watching the story.
Does anyone know more? Send tips to homicidewatchdc [at] gmail.com or leave in comments. Thanks. I’ll try to follow this through the day.
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This was in Metro PD’s First District arrest logs today. The address where Legrand was reportedly arrested is the same address as Metro PD. There is nothing obvious in the Superior Court dockets that gives any more clues, but VINElink shows a 27-year-old William Legrand currently in custody.
ARREST# : 011050257
DT-TM: 08-DEC-10 - 1654
LOCATION: 300 INDIANA AVE NW - PSA:
OFFENDER: LEGRAND, W
SEX: M
OFFENSE: Felony Murder
TYPE: FELONY
OFFICER: VOYSEST
