Winter storm Wiley has prompted District officials to close Moultrie Courthouse Monday because of snowfall. All criminal cases and arraignments scheduled for Mar. 17 will be postponed until Mar. 18.
The DC Courts will be closed Monday, March 17 due to the weather. Jurors need not report.
— DC Courts PIO (@DCCourtsInfo) March 17, 2014
Monday is the fourth time this year that the D.C. Courts have closed because of inclement weather.
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A man found shot in a car in Southeast DC on Friday evening has died of his injuries, MPD said Sunday afternoon.
The man, identified by police as 30-year-old Delonte Jackson, was found by officers responding to a report of a shooting in the unit block of 46th Street, Southeast. Jackson was taken to a local hospital. He died Saturday.
A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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In brief:
Two homicides were reported in D.C. this week:
Corey Saxton was arrested in connection with the shooting death of Roshaine Henry, who was found inside a crashed car suffering from a gunshot wound. Saxton was ordered held Tuesday on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the murder case charging brothers David and Montez Warren with the May 2011 shooting death of Ervin Lamont Griffin. Prosecutors say Griffin was shot when he didn’t have anything to provide in a robbery.
Marvin Moore was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the stabbing death of his friend, Timothy Benjamin, in September 2013. Though Moore previously stated his intent to withdraw his guilty plea, Moore told the court he was ready to be sentenced on Friday.
Deonte Bryant and Terrance Bush were each sentenced to over sixty years in prison for the 2011 Caribbean festival shooting that killed Robert Foster Jr. and injured two others.
The retrial of James Sandidge began this week with opening statements. Sandidge, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 20-year-old Keenan Jerel Lee. During Sandidge’s first trial, jurors failed to reach a verdict.
Kevin Walker pleaded innocent to two counts of first degree murder, two counts of possession of a firearm and one count of carrying a pistol without a license in connection with the shooting death of siblings, Jamie Jenkins, 28, and Jamahl Jenkins, 21 in July 2013.
Rasdavid Lagarde decided to give up his right to a preliminary hearing in court on Friday. Prosecutors say Lagarde was the person who fatally shot Howard University student Omar Sykes last July. Lagarde will remain held in connection with the case.
Howard Randolph was removed from a halfway house after he was found with two packs of K2, a synthetic cannabis, while he awaited trial. Randolph, 25, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of 21-year-old Rayshawn Hailstock in June 2013.
A shooting in the 4500 block of East Capitol Street Northeast, near the Benning Road Metro station, left 20-year-old Kevin Marzell Leonard dead Saturday evening.
Police found Leonard, of Southeast D.C., around 6:08 p.m. suffering from gunshot wounds. He died at a local hospital.
A press release from MPD is below: Read more
The first ten weeks of 2014 have been the bloodiest D.C. has seen in recent years. A total of 26 people were killed between January 1, and March 14 in comparison to 15 homicides at the same time last year.
“We haven’t seen anything like this in a really long time,” said Metropolitan Chief of Police Cathy L. Lanier.
According to police none of the cases are connected and there has not been any sign of retaliatory patterns related to gang rivalry.
Lanier attributes some of the surge in homicides to the extended periods of cold weather and a rise in domestic violence.
Most of the communities affected are located east of the Anacostia River, where 17 of the murders have taken place, eight of them during daylight hours.
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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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Marvin Moore was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for stabbing his friend, Timothy Benjamin, five times, causing his death in September 2013.
Moore pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in October, but later wrote a letter to Judge Russell Canan asking the court to withdraw his guilty plea because he was not adequately represented.
On Monday the court received a second letter from Moore stating he was ready to move forward with sentencing and that he takes full responsibility for what happened.
“Me and the guy were tight and I cry every night over the incident,” wrote Moore in his second letter.
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Nearly five months after his arrest, Rasdavid Lagarde decided to give up his right to a preliminary hearing in court on Friday.
At such a hearing, prosecutors would have argued there was probable cause that Lagarde was the person who fatally shot Howard University student Omar Sykes in order for Lagarde to remain held.
Police believe Sykes’s death was the result of an attempted robbery.
Sykes was found shot in the 700 block of Fairmont Street Northwest around 11:30 p.m on July 4, 2013. Lagarde, 26, is suspected of first-degree murder in the case.
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Kevin Walker plead innocent to all charges Friday in connection to the shooting death of siblings, Jamie Jenkins, 28, and Jamahl Jenkins, 21 in July 2013.
Walker is charged with two counts of first degree murder, two counts of possession of a firearm and one count of carrying a pistol without a license.
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A shooting in the 2500 Block of Sayles Place, Southeast killed 23-year-old Demencio Lewis Thursday night, according to MPD.
Lewis was found by an off-duty police officer who heard gunshots while in the 2600 block of Bowen Road, Southeast around midnight. According to the press release, Lewis suffered multiple gunshot wounds and emergency personnel found no signs consistent with life at the scene.
A press release from MPD is after the jump.
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