Homicide Watch D.C.

Each week, Homicide Watch brings you a list of upcoming hearings in the cases we follow. All hearings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. unless otherwise noted. To add an item to the listing, email homicidewatchdc [at] gmail.com. To see scheduled court hearings beyond next week, see our calendar.
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The night that 31-year-old Eboni Domally was stabbed to death, her screams woke up the house. In the basement, Michael Gayle was on top of Domally, choking her with both hands, charging documents say.

It wasn’t the first time Gayle choked Domally, a witness told police. Later that night, the witness also saw Gayle stabbing Domally in the back and stomach with a knife.

That’s according to court documents charging Gayle with second-degree murder. Judge Karen Howze ruled Friday that there was enough evidence to hold him on the charge; he is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on September 9.
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Anthony Williams pleaded innocent Friday to first-degree murder while armed and two weapon charges in connection to the fatal shooting of James Edward Booker.

Police found Booker, 23, conscious and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the 500 block of Alabama Avenue Southeast on November 5, 2013. When police asked Booker who shot him, he replied, “I don’t know.” He later died at a local hospital.

Video footage shows Williams and two other individuals surrounding Booker in front of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary school, according to charging documents. Read more

A shooting in the unit block of 46th Place Northeast has killed 25-year-old Dexter Motley, MPD announced Thursday.

Police officers found Motley and another man shot at approximately 9:32 p.m. while investigating the sound of gunshots. Emergency medical services transported Motley to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The second man was listed in stable condition, according to the release.

The full press release from MPD is after the jump.
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Michael Gayle, who was arrested in North Carolina in July, has been brought to D.C. where he will face a murder charge for the death of Eboni Domally.

Domally was found stabbed to death in the 5200 block of Queens Stroll Place Southeast on June 29. Police named Gayle as a suspect on July 2.

Local police arrested Gayle at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina, on July 22. He had been held there until Thursday. He is suspected of second-degree murder while armed.

MPD’s full statement is below: Read more

BBC News interviewed filmmaker Curtis Mozie about the 33 years he has spent documenting the lives and deaths of D.C. residents for his organization, The Tale of the Tape Foundation. In May, Mozie spoke with Homicide Watch about his work and the communal mental health costs caused by the city’s violence.

Mozie told the BBC about how he collects footage: Read more

In brief:

One homicide was reported this week in D.C.

• Dexter Motley, 25, was killed in a Wednesday shooting in the unit block of 46th Place Northeast, MPD announced Thursday.

A judge found probable cause to hold Michael Gayle on suspicion of second-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of Eboni Domally. Charging documents say that a witness told police that Gayle choked and stabbed his mother.

Anthony Williams was charged with first-degree murder while armed and two weapon charges on Friday in connection to the fatal shooting of James Edward Booker. Charging documents say that video footage shows Williams talk to Booker while holding a handgun.

The trial of Lamonte Perry began Monday with opening statements. Prosecutors argue that Perry led Andre Jackson into an ambush set up by Marquette Tibbs, Perry’s former codefendant. Tibbs and Perry are each charged with first-degree murder, among other charges.

A judge found probable cause to hold Kieva Hooks on suspicion of second-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of her mother Tajuana Hooks. According MPD Detective Hosam Nasr, Kieva Hooks admitted to police that she cut her mother 37 times, inflicting 21 stab wounds during an early-morning argument.

Kieva Hooks admitted to police that she cut her mother 37 times, inflicting 21 stab wounds during an early-morning argument inside their Columbia Heights apartment.

Tajuana Hooks, according to testimony heard Monday, called out, “no Kie, no,” as it happened.

Judge Robert Richter used that piece of information, which came from a post-arrest interview with Kieva Hooks, to find probable cause that the 30-year-old woman killed her mother on July 31. Read more

Prosecutors say Lamonte Perry was loyal to his close friend Andre Jackson, but he was also loyal to his 37th street neighborhood.

So on Nov. 4, 2012, Perry led Jackson behind an apartment complex and into an ambush set up by Marquette Tibbs, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson said Monday. And though Perry never fired a shot, he helped ensure Jackson died that night, Kenerson said.

Perry faces one count of first-degree murder, three related weapons charges and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with Jackson’s death. Tibbs, Perry’s former co-defendant, is charged with first-degree murder and two related weapons charges; he is scheduled to begin trial on September 15.
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John Hinckley, Jr. Mugshot” by United States Federal Bureau of Investigation - FBI Field Office Washington. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

When James Brady, the former press secretary wounded in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, died this week at age 73, it opened the possibility that John Hinckley Jr. could be charged with murder.

A jury acquitted Hinckley for the original shooting, finding him not guilty by reason of insanity. He remains institutionalized at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital. He has not yet been charged in Brady’s death.

Below, analysts consider the legal issues surrounding any possible prosecution: Read more