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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Manuel Garcia, 20, was ordered held Thursday on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed in connection to the shooting death of Luis E. Avila Melendez. Garcia was arrested Wednesday.

On June 21, 27-year-old Melendez was found shot after 2 a.m. near the intersection of Fuller street and Mozart place. Charging documents say a witness called 911 after hearing five to six gunshot and seeing a Hispanic man and woman running.

According to the documents, video shows Garcia and a woman walk past Melendez and another man in the 2500 block of 17th street that night. Then, Garcia is seen returning to Melendez and the other man, and the three appear to communicate.
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“We’re all family,” David Shepherd said as he—according to a prosecutor—lifted up a revolver, stuck it into Henry Miller’s mouth and pulled the trigger. “But family can get their motherf**king heads blown off, too.”

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Worm, was quoting a witness to the shooting in opening arguments Wednesday. Worm argued there was nothing that could have provoked Shepherd to shoot Miller.

According to prosecutors, Miller bypassed Shepherd during a conversation when he went to his cousin’s truck to get a cigarette and Shepherd flew into a rage. After the two exchanged heated words, Shepherd left and then returned to shoot Miller, according to Worm. Read more

The Metropolitan Police Department recently introduced a new category for transgender victims on their website’s unsolved homicide flyers page, one of the many steps the department is taking to improve relations with the city’s LGBT community.

The category titled Transgender Victims was introduced in preparation for last month’s town hall meeting between MPD and members of the LGBT community, organized in part by the DC Trans Coalition.

Transgender advocates and allies say the step is meaningful, but not enough.

“Acknowledging that these victims were trans women of color is a necessary first step, but by itself is insufficient,” said RJ Nickels, member of DCTC. “More work is needed to repair the broken relationship between the trans and broader LGBTQ community and MPD.”
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A 20 year old Northeast DC man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of Luis E. Avila Melendez in Northwest DC on June 21.

Melendez was found shot near the intersection of Fuller Street and Mozart Place at about 2:30 a.m.

On Wednesday, Manuel Antonio Garcia was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed.

A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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Almost a year after the shooting death of Anthony Sanchez, police have arrested a 26-year-old Northwest D.C. man in connection with his death, MPD announced Monday.

The man, identified as Nilson Maldonado, is suspected of second-degree murder.

Police found 18-year-old Sanchez suffering from a gunshot wound at approximately 2:00 a.m. in the 2900 block of Sherman Avenue Northwest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Councilmember Jim Graham previously said that Sanchez was a ward of the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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The Washington Times reports that MPD attributes an increase in the number of 2014 homicides to domestic violence killings, a number that includes the deaths of more than 10 women. The women represent just over 20 percent of the city’s homicide victims so far.

MPD Chief Cathy Lanier said that “high-visibility” tactics used to curb other crimes don’t prevent domestic violence effectively:

“A lot of these women were in violent relationships,” Chief Lanier said of the victims.
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Police are seeking the public’s help in finding a man suspected in the stabbing death of Eboni Domally.

MPD identified the suspect as Michael Gayle, a 5-foot, 9-inch tall black man with a medium complexion, weighing approximately 160 pounds. According to a press release, Gayle should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police have released a photo of Gayle, which can be seen above.

A press release is after the jump.
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Two charges of obstruction of justice against David Shepherd were dropped Monday after prosecutors requested Judge Russell Canan dismiss them. The decision came two days before jury selection is expected to begin in the trial charging Shepherd in connection with the death of Henry Charles Miller.

In February 2013, a grand jury indicted Shepherd on eight counts, including premeditated first-degree murder while armed, fleeing law enforcement, destruction of property and three related weapons charges.

Police found Miller on June 3, 2012, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the 1100 block of Chicago Street Southeast. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
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Joshua Andrews, 22, was sentenced to 41 and a half years in prison Tuesday after jurors found him guilty of killing Darond Alonte Lucas in June 2010.

The sentencing by Judge Rhonda Reid Winston came more than two months after the end of Andrews’ trial. The trial was the second in the case; jurors in November deadlocked on the case.

Prosecutors say Andrews waited behind a stairwell early on June 5, 2010 to “catch” Lucas because Andrews believed Lucas had shot at him on a separate occasion. Andrews and another person, who has not been identified, then trapped Lucas, and shot him 15 times in the back and the head, according to charging documents.
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