Anthony Thomas | Homicide Watch DC

Stephen Page and James Brewer Plead Guilty to Second-Degree Murder While Armed in Solomon Reese Death

Ivan Natividad — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:27:51 -0500

Stephen Page and James Brewer, two of three suspects charged in connection with the 2011 shooting death of 71-year-old Solomon Reese, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder while armed and related robbery offenses.

Police found Reese June 27, 2011 at approximately 9:30 p.m. in his apartment on the 2300 block of Good Hope Road Southeast suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he later died.

Brewer, 27, and Page, 20, were arrested less than a month later and charged with first-degree felony murder in connection with Reese’s death. A third suspect, Anthony Thomas, 25, pleaded guilty in October to a charge of voluntary manslaughter in connection with Reese’s death.

The three co-defendants were indicted last year on 13 counts of first-degree felony murder, obstruction, conspiracy, burglary and armed robbery of a senior citizen, court documents state.

A superseding indictment in the case alleged that Thomas, Page and Brewer met on July 9, 2011 to discuss the case prosecutors had against them. In that conversation, the three conspired against Dwight Hicks, who they thought could provide information about the case to police. The following morning, Hicks was found shot in Capitol Heights, Md, court documents state.

According to plea documents, the night Reese was killed Thomas, Brewer, Page, and Hicks entered the lobby of Reese's apartment complex and took the elevator up to the seventh floor. The four then exited the elevator, and Thomas, Brewer and Page entered Reese's apartment. Reese was a military veteran who supplemented his retirement by selling cigarettes to neighbors in the community, court documents state.

When Reese's wife, Erika, attempted to enter the apartment, which she shared with her husband, it was shut closed from the inside. After hearing scuffling inside the apartment, she began to scream, documents state.

Brewer then opened the door and pulled Reese's wife inside the apartment and threw her toward a living room sofa, court documents state. As she continued to scream Thomas put a blanket over her mouth to muffle her screams. Reese then grabbed Thomas, causing Page, who was holding a pistol, to shoot Reese several times.

The three men then took two bags and left Reese's apartment, ran down the stairs to the basement level, and exited the rear of the building, documents state.

An autopsy found that Reese died of multiple gunshots to the chest, abdomen and right thigh, documents state.

Plea documents state that detectives obtained video footage that shows the four men entering the apartment building and then gathering by the elevator on the first floor. Seven minutes later Brewer, Page and Thomas are seen moving quickly out of the basement level stairwell carrying two bags, court documents state.

Documents state that witnesses overheard Thomas admit to entering the apartment building to "rob the cigarette man."

Brewer and Page are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Herbert Dixon on Jan. 17, 2014.

Plea documents have been added to this post.

Page, Stephen Plea Documents (PDF)Page, Stephen Plea Documents (Text)

Brewer, James Plea Documents (PDF)Brewer, James Plea Documents (Text)

Anthony Thomas Pleads Guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter in Death of Solomon Reese

Ivan Natividad — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 16:31:45 -0400

Anthony Thomas, one of three suspects charged in connection with the 2011 shooting death of 71-year-old Solomon Reese, pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter while armed and related robbery offenses.

Prosecutors read the plea agreement and proffer of facts Friday during a sealed bench conference between Judge Herbert Dixon, Thomas, and counsel from both sides.

"We're trying to keep people from getting killed," prosecutor Gary Wheeler said Friday.

A spokesperson for the US Attorney's office said no plea documents are public for this case.

Police found Reese June 27, 2011 at approximately 9:31 p.m. in his apartment on the 2300 block of Good Hope Road Southeast suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Thomas, 25, was arrested one month later and charged with first-degree felony murder in connection with Reese's death. Codefendants, Stephen Page and James Brewer, were arrested several weeks before Thomas and also charged with Reese's murder.

Charging documents allege that Thomas, Brewer, Page and a fourth person had conspired to rob Reese at his apartment. Reese was shot in the course of the robbery, and cigarettes and two leather bags were taken, documents state.

The three codefendants were indicted last year on 13 counts of first-degree felony murder, obstruction, conspiracy, burglary and armed robbery of a senior citizen, court documents state.

A superseding indictment alleged that Thomas, Page and Brewer met on July 9, 2011 to discuss the case prosecutors had against them. In that conversation, the three conspired the murder of Dwight Hicks, who they thought could provide information about the case to police. The following morning, Hicks was found shot in Capitol Heights, Md. at around 12:42 a.m., court documents state.

The case is scheduled for a status hearing December 3 with Judge Dixon.

Obstruction Charges for Men Suspected of Killing Murder Case Witness

Laura Amico — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:22:08 -0400

Three men charged with killing 71-year-old Solomon Reese have now also been formally charged with obstruction of justice in connection with the shooting death of one of the witnesses in the case.

James Brewer, Stephen Page, and Anthony Thomas, pled innocent to the charge in court Thursday.

The charge was part of a superseding indictment. Brewer, Page, and Thomas pled innocent in April to charges including first-degree murder while armed and burglary. That indictment alleges that Brewer, Page, Thomas, and a fourth person conspired to rob Reese at his Southeast DC apartment in June 2011. Once they arrived at the apartment, they threatened and fought with Reese and another person who lived at his home. After shooting Reese, they took two leather bags and cigarettes.

The superseding indictment alleges that Brewer, Page, and Thomas met on July 9, 2011 to discuss the status of the case against them and, in that conversation, discussed killing Dwight Hicks, who they believed could provide information about the case to detectives. Later that same day Brewer and Page drove Hicks to Prince George's County to kill him.

Hicks was found shot in Capitol Heights, Md. at about 12:42 a.m. on July 10, 2011. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The superseding indictment also formally adds Bradley Allen as a co-defendant in the case, charging him with helping James Brewer escape from custody while at DC Superior Court.

Brewer is accused of exchanging identification bracelets with Allen and using Allen's name when asked to identify himself. Brewer, posing as Allen, was released from custody and walked out of the courthouse and away from the felony murder charge.

Allen is expected in court July 3 to answer to the charge.

Read the indictment below:

Men Charged in Killing of Solomon Reese Plead Innocent

Laura Amico — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:19:48 -0400

Three men accused in the shooting death of 71-year-old Solomon Reese have been charged with first-degree felony murder, in addition to conspiracy, burglary, and the armed robbery of a senior citizen.

James Brewer, Stephen Page, and Anthony Thomas were indicted on the charges Tuesday. They each pled innocent to the charges.

The thirteen count indictment in the case alleges that Brewer, Page, Thomas, and a fourth person conspired to rob Reese at his Southeast DC apartment. Once they arrived at the apartment, they threatened and fought with Reese and another person who lived at his home. After shooting Reese, they took two leather bags and cigarettes.

A jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 4.

Potential Witness in Solomon Reese Homicide Killed in PG County, Prosecutor Says

Laura Amico — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:03:31 -0400

On video surveillance from the Southeast D.C. apartment building where Solomon Reese was killed in June, a black male, of a slim build, is seen leading Stephen Page, Anthony Thomas and James Brewer into the building.

According to charging documents, that person is Dwight Hicks, a 26-year-old man who lived in that same Good Hope Road building.

On July 10, Hicks was killed in Prince George's County. In court Thursday, Prosecutor Sharad Khandelwal said Hicks had been a potential witness in the case.

A Prince George's County Police spokesman said detectives there have not many any arrests in Hick's death and they have not determined whether or not Hick's murder is related to Reese's murder.

Charging documents in Reese's murder allege that defendants Stephen Page, Anthony Thomas and James Brewer were frequent visitors of Hicks' on Good Hope Road. Reese lived in the same building as Hicks, and authorities believe that Page, Thomas and Brewer intended to rob him on June 27.

At a preliminary hearing Thursday and Friday, attorneys for the men disagreed, saying that there was no evidence that Reese was robed the night he was killed.

Detective Jonathan Clingerman testified that three suspects are seen leaving Reese's apartment building shortly after Reese was killed with a bag that belonged to Reese. Reese generally kept loose change, papers, cigarretts and lighters in the bag, Clingerman said.

Thomas' attorney, Ferris Bond, questioned why anyone would want to steal a bag with such paltry items in it.

"Our contention is it wasn't a robbery," he said.

Said Brewer's attorney, Michael Satin, "it's not clear that what happened was an armed robbery."

Brewer, 25, was arrested July 14 in connection with Reese's killing. He escaped from D.C. Superior Court, and was rearrested July 16.

Page, 18, was arrested July 14.

Thomas, who will be 23 on Saturday, was presented with a charge of felony murder while armed in the case on July 25. It was not immediately clear when he was arrested.

On Friday, Judge Thomas Motley found probable cause to believe that the men committed first-degree murder while armed and ordered each of them held at least until their next court date, scheduled for Nov. 2.