Brandon Miller was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for second-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the shooting death of 21-year-old Jamal Coates. He is the fourth and final man to be sentenced for Coates’ death. On Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Gee said that Miller’s decision to plead made him “one of … Read more →
Judge Lynn Leibovitz sentenced Keir Johnson Friday to 54 years in prison, including 32 years for the shooting death of Jamal Coates. “Taking lives is the most tragic thing you can do and it’s distressing to see Mr. Johnson, who could have done anything, in this position,” Leibovitz said before delivering her sentencing. Johnson, along … Read more →
“These defendants are our city’s children, the verdicts against them are heartbreaking, the lives that they took were valued and the loss of those victims is heartbreaking,” Judge Lynn Leibovitz said before delivering the sentences of Robert Givens, Marcellus Jackson, and Lester Williams. The three men, along with Keir Johnson were convicted of multiple criminal … Read more →
Marcellus Jackson was found guilty Tuesday of second-degree murder and related charges in connection with the 2010 shooting death of Jamal Coates. Coates, 21, was killed in September 2010 while he and friends were leaving the funeral of Ashley McRae, a friend who had also been shot and killed. Prosecutors alleged in an indictment that … Read more →
Keir Johnson and Lester Williams were found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder while armed and other weapons, conspiracy, and criminal street gang offenses Friday in connection to the shooting death of Jamal Coates. Coates, 21, was shot and killed in September 2010 while leaving a friend’s funeral in the U Street corridor. The incident happened … Read more →
For nearly four months, jurors have heard evidence in the case charging Keir Johnson and Lester Williams with the shooting death of Jamal Coates, who was killed leaving a friend’s funeral in the U Street corridor in September 2010. Prosecutors argued that Johnson and Williams, along with Robert Givens and Marcellus Jackson are linked by … Read more →
The murder of Jamal Coates is “not a case where there is someone that was shot in a dark alley and no one will ever be able to tell who did it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Gee said his closing arguments Wednesday. “This happened in broad daylight at one of the busiest intersections in DC.” … Read more →
A long-standing gang rivalry in Columbia Heights/ Adams Morgan is now at the center of a DC murder trial stretching into its fourth month of testimony. Over the past two weeks, a former member of one of those gangs has detailed the relationships — and beefs — that brought the two groups together and broke … Read more →
Miko Thompson, 24, grew up with Jamal Coates playing sports at the Maria H. Reed Recreational Center from the time he was about 11 years old. But over the past two days, Thompson has been testifying about the shooting that killed 21-year-old Coates in September 2010. Keir Johnson and Lester Williams are charged with first-degree … Read more →
Members of a street gang that operated near 14th and Girard streets in Northwest D.C. were “not content to live in the neighborhood they were from,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Gee told jurors Wednesday in opening arguments, beginning a trial of four co-defendants charged with three murders. Instead, Gee said, they “wanted power.” Keir Johnson, … Read more →
Keir Johnson and Lester Williams turned down a government plea offer Thursday to second-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of 21-year-old Jamal Coates. The two men are charged with conspiracy, first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill, and several weapons charges in connection with Coates’ death, who was shot and killed … Read more →
Keir Johnson and Lester Williams both pleaded not guilty today at their arraignment on charges of conspiracy, first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and several weapons charges. Johnson and Jackson were among seven men named in an 80 count indictment that detailed five years of gang violence in Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and the … Read more →
The US Attorney’s Office has charged seven DC men with a series of gang, weapons, drugs, and violent crimes reported to have taken place in Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan and the U Street corridor since 2006. Among those crimes are three homicides, including that of Jamal Coates, who was killed while leaving a friend’s funeral … Read more →
