Allen Culver pleaded innocent Friday to eight criminal charges including first-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of 31-year-old Robert Plight.
Detectives say that Plight was shot after he approached Culver and asked him why Culver robbed his younger brother.
On June 1, 2013, police found Plight in the 4400 block of Benning Road Northeast suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Arrest documents in the case state that Culver robbed a group of four men including Plight’s brother as they walked from a gas station on the 4400 block of Benning Road Northeast. Before the robbery, Culver asked the group what they had in their pockets and added, “Are you willing to die for your money?”
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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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Leon Allen Smith pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in connection to the stabbing death of 45-year-old Stephan Manuel Pool.
Smith, 29, admitted to stabbing Pool once in the heart using his pocket knife because he became enraged after seeing his girlfriend give Pool a hug and a “peck on the cheek,” according to prosecutors.
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Little more than a month after a jury hung on whether or not Donte Graves was guilty of murder, Graves on Friday pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, saying he shot 22-year-old Tyrone Joyner in February 2013.
According to the proffer of facts read in court Friday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Liebman, Graves, 19, shot Joyner one time in the torso, after Joyner confronted him and tried to punch him.
Joyner was found by police suffering from a gunshot wound on the 1400 block of Canal Street, SW, and transported to a local hospital where he later died of his injuries.
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David Jamal Wilson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed Friday in connection to the 2013 stabbing death of 68-year-old Howard Venable Jr.
Shortly after midnight on Feb. 1, 2013, Wilson, 21, and two other individuals robbed Venable at his apartment in the 1600 block of Fuller Street. During the robbery one or both of the unidentified accomplices stabbed Venable, according to prosecutors.
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Corey Saxton pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Roshaine Henry after trying to rob him at gun point.
Henry, 24, was found on March 5, in the 900 block of Madison Street Northwest suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest. Henry was taken to Medstar Hospital where he later died of his injuries.
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Todd Green plead innocent Friday to six charges including first-degree murder in connection with the death of Timothy Dawkins.
The grand jury indicted Green on charges of first-degree murder while armed, armed robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol outside a home or business.
Assistant United States Attorney Michael Liebman said Friday that another suspect is expected to be indicted in connection with Dawkins’s death in the next 60 days.
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Mary Houston, 75, of Northeast D.C., was found dead in the 800 block of Channing Place Northeast on Wednesday. Houston was reported missing Monday, and was last seen in the 2000 block of Georgia Avenue Northwest.
Medical examiners determined that Houston died of blunt force injuries and asphyxiation and ruled her death a homicide Thursday. Read more
Howard Randolph pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the June 30, 2013 fist fight that led to Rayshawn Hailstock’s death.
Randolph, 33, admitted to confronting Hailstock and punching him once, breaking his jaw in two places and fracturing the hyoid bone in his neck. Hailsotck, 21, fell forward and hit his head but medical examiners said the punch is what caused his death, according to prosecutors.
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Tisheena Brown plead guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter in connection to the overdose death of her seven-week-old son Hakeem Brown on Sept. 18, 2013.
Brown also plead guilty to second-degree insurance fraud for unlawfully obtaining several drug prescriptions between Oct. 2008 and Sept. 2013.
During Wednesday’s court hearing, 33-year-old Brown admitted to giving her infant son a lethal dose of Promethazine, a prescription drug she had been abusing since 2008, according to prosecutors.
“It’s a very tragic case,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Wright, “This baby lost its life because of his mother’s serious addiction.”
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