Brandon Miller | Homicide Watch DC

Brandon Miller Sentenced to 7 Years for Driving Shooters to Jamal Coates' Murder

Megan Arellano — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 18:40:21 -0400

Brandon Miller was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for second-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the shooting death of 21-year-old Jamal Coates. He is the fourth and final man to be sentenced for Coates' death.

On Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Gee said that Miller's decision to plead made him "one of the most important cooperating witnesses" of the past four years and requested a departure from the sentencing guidelines for him. Without Miller's cooperation, "it would have been exceedingly difficult to bring the members of G-Rod to justice," Gee said.

After pleading guilty in August 2011, Miller testified at trial that he drove his former co-defendants Keir Johnson, Lester Williams and Marcellus Jackson to the area of Ashley McRae's funeral, where Johnson and Williams shot at members of a rival crew, killing Coates.

His former co-defendants called themselves G-Rod, Miller explained at trial, and the group shared information, sold drugs, did robberies, murdered, and shot at people. "One person get into it, we all get in it," Miller said at the time.

As a result, Gee requested that Miller be sentenced to five to seven years for his charges. The maximum penalty for Coates' death was 55 years. Coates' family did not object to the agreement, Gee said, but decided not to attend Friday's sentencing.

Judge Lynn Leibovitz agreed that Miller's support was substantial and accepted the departure, saying that the convictions of his co-defendants would "not have been nearly as likely" without Miller's decision to testify.

According to the government's memorandum in aid of sentencing, Miller "foolishly agreed to drive his own car to and from the shooting" and later agreed to hide the murder weapons in his parents' house.

Miller appeared to be "thoroughly ashamed that despite having a good family upbringing and being intelligent, he permitted himself to fall so thoroughly into being involved in the streets and used by others," the memorandum said.

Defense attorney Anthony Matthews said though his client's decision was "made easier by the facts marshaled against him," Miller made a tough choice that resulted in "peril for his family, his child, and himself."

The decision was motivated in part by self-interest, Matthews said, but "a big part of that selfish interest is that he doesn't want his parents to feel they like squandered their time with him."

Before his sentence was delivered, Miller apologized, saying that he thinks about his actions every day. "I chose a lot of wrong," he said.

"People never forget how you make then feel," Miller said. "I put [the Coates family] through a lot of pain. I put my family through a lot of pain."

Plea documents, which were previously under seal, will be added below.

Keir Johnson, Lester Williams Reject Plea Offer in Jamal Coates Murder

Ivan Natividad — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:24:31 -0400

Keir Johnson and Lester Williams turned down a government plea offer Thursday to second-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of 21-year-old Jamal Coates.

The two men are charged with conspiracy, first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill, and several weapons charges in connection with Coates' death, who was shot and killed in September 2010 while leaving a friend's funeral.

Plea documents state that on August 20 prosecutors in the case sent a plea offer to Johnson and Williams which stated that if they pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed, for Coates' death, Johnson could be sentenced to 12 to 24 years in prison; Williams could be sentenced to 13 to 25 years in prison.

The four co-defendant case also includes co-defendants Robert Givens and Marcellus Jackson. Charging documents allege that the men belong to a street gang known as "G-Rod," and are responsible for five years of gang violence in Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and the U Street corridor. Givens and Jackson are charged with the murder of Sean Robinson, an alleged rival gang member who was shot and killed a month before Coates.

Prosecutors in the case extended a similar plea offer to Givens and Jackson. The plea deals for all four men required that each of them plead guilty. If one man turned down the plea, guilty pleas from the other three would be rejected.

The plea offer was rejected by all four suspects Thursday.

Johnson seemed to be the only defendant who considered the plea offer, telling Judge Lynne Leibovitz that he would have accepted the plea offer if prosecutors would have allowed him to accept it as an individual, without the group contingency.

Williams and Givens wanted to cap the sentence between 15 and 18 years, while Jackson simply rejected any notion of the plea offer.

Johnson and Williams face the possibility of life in prison if convicted. Brandon Miller, a third suspect in Coates' death remains held pending the grand jury.

The trial is scheduled to begin September 23.

New Court Dates for Ramona Gray and Brandon Miller

Laura Amico — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:42:41 -0500

Two murder cases were postponed last week.

Ramona Gray, whose felony status conference for a first degree murder case on Jan. 14 was postponed, is now scheduled to appear Friday in courtroom 320 (Judge Gerald Fisher) for a felony status conference. The case is pending grand jury indictment. The victim, Shemese Grant, was stabbed to death on Aug 31, 2010 in the 1700 block of Good Hope Road in Southeast D.C. Gray is represented by attorney Premal Dharia. The conference is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

The preliminary hearing in the first degree murder case against Brandon Miller, suspected in the shooting death of Jamal Coates on Sep. 28, 2010 in the 1900 block of 13th Street in Nothwest D.C., was also postponed. That preliminary hearing is now scheduled for March 11, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. in courtroom 319 (Judge Thomas Motley). Miller is represented by attorney Anthony Matthews.

Damon Sams Pleads "Not Guilty" in Death of Ashley McRae

Laura Amico — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 10:58:43 -0500

A Southeast D.C. man accused of killing Columbia Heights 21-year-old Ashley McRae has been indicted by a grand jury on second degree murder charges.

McRae was found in the backseat of a car in Southeast D.C. with a gunshot wound to her head early in the morning of Sept. 18. According to press reports and charging documents against Damon Sams, McRae and Sams had been out at a nightclub Friday night and got in an argument while riding in the car to a house party.

According to the charging documents, Sams admitted in an videotaped interview with police that he had shot McRae in the head with a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol, but said the gun's firing was accidental.

Shortly before shooting [McRae], [Sams] stated that he fired his pistol once up into the air and then was putting his weapon away when it "accidentally" went off and struck [McRae] in the head.

Damon Sams appeared in court Thursday to answer to the charge of second degree murder, as well as charges of gun possession and that the offenses were committed while he was on release for another case.

Sams plead "not guilty" on all counts. A jury trial is expected to be held in June.

McRae's shooting death escalated gang tensions in the community
Jamal Coates, a 21-year-old D.C. man, was killed outside of McRae's funeral on Sept. 28. McRae's funeral was described as "tense;" the funeral "brought out a lot of crew members from nearby communities," TBD reported.

Tensions among the attendees started heating up, and Coates decided to do something about it. According to longtime Ward 1 activist Bryan Weaver, he asked people to take it easy, "to knock it off."

The appeal didn't work. The commotion merely intensified, changing U Street from a hip lunch destination to a crime corridor. In fast succession, the gang hostilities produced a shootout and a Hollywood-caliber car accident. They also claimed the life of the 21-year-old Coates.

Brandon Miller has been charged with first-degree murder in Coates' death. Miller is due in court Jan. 14, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. for a preliminary hearing.