Lanee Bell | Homicide Watch DC

Lanee Bell Sentenced to Three Years for Latisha Frazier Murder, Jail Time Suspended

Penny Ray — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:58:04 -0400

Judge William Jackson sentenced Lanee Bell to three years in prison Tuesday in connection with the brutal beating death of 18-year-old Latisha Frazier. Bell's jail time was suspended and she must complete two years of probation.

Bell had pled guilty to kidnapping in the case and said Tuesday that her participation in Frazier's death was a mistake.

"I just wanna let y'all know that I apologize for what happened," Bell wept as she addressed Frazier's family. "I made a mistake. I just ask that you find it in your heart to forgive me."

Frazier was kidnapped, punched, stomped, taped up, gagged, choked and eventually killed in early August 2010 all because Johnnie Sweet believed she stole $900 from him. Several of Frazier's kidnappers attempted to dismember her body, but failed, and prosecutors believe it is now in a Virginia landfill.

Bell testified at Sweet's murder trial and said that she didn't know that Frazier was going to be killed, and that she briefly participated in Frazier's beating out of "peer pressure."

Bell further testified that after a few minutes of punching Frazier, she pushed away Cinthya Proctor and Aneka Nelson and told them to stop because Frazier had done nothing to them. Then, Bell said, Sweet hit Frazier “too many times to count,” and after Frazier fell to the floor, Brian Gaither began stomping her. Bell said that she then left Sweet's home, where the attack occurred, and returned later that evening, but never asked what happened to Frazier.

Prosecutors believe Frazier may have been taped up and locked in a closet in Sweet's home at the time Bell returned that evening. And Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Kavanaugh said Tuesday that Bell may have been able to prevent Frazier's death.

"This is a difficult case for the government," Kavanaugh told the court. "The facts really do set [Bell] apart from everyone else. She accepted responsibility from the very beginning, took it very seriously, and provided valuable assistance to the investigation. But, she could have stopped [the beating]."

Judge Jackson said Tuesday that when Bell pled guilty to kidnapping, and he told her the maximum penalty for the charge, "her knees buckled, but she went forward anyway."

Jackson also said that he "had the rare opportunity" to attend a portion of Sweet's trial and listen to Bell's testimony.

"She appeared to be forthcoming," Jackson said. "Ms. Bell's testimony, I thought, was crucial."

Barry Campbell, Frazier's biological father, spoke at the hearing Tuesday and said that he appreciates that Bell came forward. "I respect her for it," he said.

Bell was 17 years old at the time of Frazier's death, and was the only co-defendant in the case to testify at Sweet's murder trial. Judge Jackson said Tuesday that since then she has graduated high school and now attends college.

Jury Deliberations Begin in Murder Trial Against Johnnie Sweet

Penny Ray — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:44:58 -0400

By the prosecutor's estimation, the death of 18-year-old Latisha Frazier is not a "who done it."

“By the defendant's own words, he is guilty, guilty, guilty,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams said in closing arguments Monday.

That defendant, Johnnie Sweet, is accused of taking part in a brutal "peer pressure" fueled beating. A beating in which Frazier was hit, stomped, kicked, choked, gagged, tied up, and left for dead. Days later, Frazier's body was taken to a dumpster. She was never found.

In closing arguments, James Rudasill Jr., Sweet's defense attorney, argued that although the beating took place in Sweet's home, Sweet was not the ring leader of the group that conducted the beating.

Rudasill argued that Brian Gaither, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in November in connection with the case, administered a fatal chokehold. That chokehold makes Gaither more culpable, Rudasill argued, adding that Sweet intended to “beat Frazier and then put her out of the apartment.”

Sweet is charged with felony murder, first-degree premeditated murder, kidnapping and evidence tampering in connection with the August 2010 brutal beating death of 18-year-old Latisha Frazier. Several other youths have already pled guilty to assisting Sweet in the beating. Frazier's body, though, was never recovered.

The week-long trial came to an end Monday afternoon and jurors were sent to begin deliberations at about 4:30 p.m.

Though neither Sweet nor Gaither testified at the trial, jurors heard testimony from one of the young women connected to the case. Lanee Bell, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping Frazier, testified that Frazier's beating was instigated and orchestrated by Sweet after he discovered $900 missing from his personal belongings.

Sweet told detectives that he suspected Frazier as the thief because “she was the only one in the room” moments before he realized the money was taken.

Bell said that on August 2, 2010, Sweet convinced her, Gaither, and others to join him in beating and stomping Frazier in the corner of a small bedroom in Sweet's home.

A few minutes later Sweet went to the front door and returned to the bedroom with his arm around Frazier’s neck as if they were friends, Bell said. Still dressed in her McDonald’s uniform, Frazier sat in a chair and then Sweet closed the bedroom door and said, “Ain’t nobody about to leave.”

“I didn’t know this was going to happen,” Bell testified. “It was like a peer pressure thing.”

Said prosecutor Melinda Williams, “Latisha Frazier was betrayed by people she considered friends.”

“And she was shown no mercy.”

Sweet, Cinthya Proctor and Brian Gaither later attempted to dismember Frazier's body, but failed. The body was then tossed into a dumpster in the 1700 block of Trenton Place Southeast by Gaither and Antoine McCullough, McCullough testified.

Ronald Olive, an expert in landfill excavation, testified that he “tracked the trash” from Trenton Place SE to the Shoosmith Landfill in Chesterfield County, Virginia, where he believes that Frazier's body is now located.

Olive said that between August 2010 and February 2011 the landfill had grown 100 feet deep, making it “extremely dangerous” to attempt to uncover Frazier's body. Moreover, MPD would have had to relocate 30-40 police officers to Chesterfield County to oversee the excavation; and methane pipes buried within the search area posed an “extremely high risk” of explosion, Olive said.

“The odds are not in their favor of going into a landfill and finding a body,” Olive told the court. “Landfills are not meant to be excavated.”

Crime Scene Investigators with the Metropolitan Police Department used a skill saw to remove a piece of wood flooring from right behind the bedroom door where Bell testified Sweet had stomped Frazier. Andrea Borchardt-Gardner, a forensic DNA analyst, testified that she “cracked open” a portion of the floor board and found human blood, which was then processed to obtain a DNA profile.

Cheek swabs were also taken from both Caroline Frazier and Barry Campbell, Frazier's biological parents, and a reverse paternity comparison was conducted.

Dr. Robert Bever determined that the DNA profile from the wood floor was 50.6 billion times more likely to belong to the female child of Caroline and Barry than to unrelated individuals of African American descent, according to a stipulation read at trial.

James Rudasill Jr., Sweet's defense attorney, said that Sweet abandoned the plan to “beat Frazier and then put her out of the apartment,” because he was afraid of Gaither.

In a police interrogation video viewed at trial, Sweet admits to detectives that he punched and "stomped" Frazier, but says that Gaither placed Frazier in a choke hold because "she was in the closet making noises." Sweet also said that Gaither told him to keep quiet, or he was going to "beat the s— out of him."

Tawanna Westry, a transportation officer with the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, testified that on February 3, 2011, when Sweet was first brought into custody, she overheard him and another cellmate having a conversation:

“What are you in for?” the cellmate asked.

“They're trying to give me a body,” Sweet responded.

“Don't go out like that.”

“I'm not copping to that s—. I'm taking it to trial. At least I didn't shoot the b—; I did it with my bare hands,” Sweet said.

Jury deliberations will resume Tuesday morning.

Beating Death of Latisha Frazier was 'Like a Peer Pressure Thing,' Witness Testifies

Penny Ray — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:06:17 -0400

What can be described as the final chapter in the story of Latisha Frazier's death began Tuesday morning with the start of defendant Johnnie Sweet's murder trial.

Sweet, 19, is charged with taking part in Frazier's death- a killing that, as one teen described at trial Tuesday, was fueled by peer pressure. Six young people are belived to have taken part, but Sweet is the only one as yet to have his culpability weighed by a jury. Four young people have pleaded guilty to charges connected with the case, including murder and kidnapping. Charges for a fifth are listed in court records as "pending grand jury."

Prosecutors believe the trial will last longer than a week, and will include details of how Sweet and his accomplices beat, taped, gagged and choked eighteen-year-old Frazier until she died in a closet on Aug. 2, 2010. The trial will not include any evidence from medical examiners or the autopsy reports common to most murder trials; Frazier's body was never found.

It was Sweet's house, prosecutors argued Tuesday that Frazier disappeared from.

At that time, Sweet's mother was hospitalized and he used the house as a "party house," prosecutor Chris Kavanaugh told jurors in opening statements. He said Sweet's friends would often visit for "sex, drinking and video games."

Lanee Bell, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping in connection with the case, testified Tuesday that around 3 p.m. on the day of Frazier's beating Sweet knocked on her front door and told her to come over to his house where “everyone was chillin' and listening to music.”

On the stand, Bell said that she waited about 15 minutes before going over to Sweet's house, and when she got there the other co-defendants were all waiting in a back bedroom.

Bell said that after a few minutes in the bedroom Sweet told her that he wanted her to beat up a girl who had stolen a “stack” of money from him. Bell testified that she didn't take Sweet's request seriously at first, and he never told her the name of the alleged thief.

A few minutes later Sweet went to the front door and returned to the bedroom with his arm around Frazier's neck as if they were friends, Bell said. Still dressed in her McDonald's uniform, Frazier sat in a chair and then Sweet closed the bedroom door and said, “Ain't nobody about to leave.”

Aneka Nelson then threw the first punch, Bell told the court.

Bell said that Frazier looked surprised and asked, “What is going on?”

No one answered; Nelson just kept punching. Then, Proctor joined the beating.

Nelson and Proctor continued throwing punches, while Frazier stood in the corner covering her face with her arms, Bell said. Then Sweet urged Bell to join in.

“I didn't know this was going to happen,” Bell testified. “It was like a peer pressure thing.”

Bell said that after a few minutes of punching Frazier she pushed the other two women away and told them to stop because Frazier had done nothing to them and she was not defending herself. Bell testified that Sweet then hit Frazier “too many times to count.”

“He beat her to the floor and then started stomping on her as if he was crushing a soda can,” Bell testified.

A few minutes later Gaither said, “It's my turn,” and he too began stomping on Frazier, Bell said.

Bell said that Sweet then went to the bathroom and retrieved a set of brass knuckles with an extended knife and said, “I'ma kill this b—.”

As Bell was leaving the house, she heard Sweet say, “I need something to tie this b— up with," she said.

Later that evening, Bell briefly went back to Sweet's home but she didn't ask what happened to Frazier.

"I didn't want to know,” she told jurors.

Sweet is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, kidnapping and evidence tampering in connection with Frazier's death; he was arrested Feb. 1, 2011.

Sweet's defense attorney, James Rudasill Jr., argued that although the beating took place in Sweet's home, and it was Sweet's money that she allegedly stole, Sweet was not the ring-leader of the attack against Frazier.

The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning in Judge Russell Canan's courtroom.

Grand Jury Could Take Full 9 Months to Indict Latisha Frazier Case

Laura Amico — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:50:53 -0400

Signaling that the Grand Jury could take the full nine months allotted by law to indict the Latisha Frazier murder case, Judge William Jackson set the next hearing date for the case for Oct. 21.

The date is one day before the nine-month deadline to indict the case against Brian Gaither, the first of six suspects arrested in connection with Frazier's death.

Assistant US Attorney Chris Kavanaugh, who is prosecuting the case, said that the status hearing date could be moved up if the Grand Jury is able to indict the case earlier.

Available Charging Documents in the Latisha Frazier Murder Case

Laura Amico — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:11:37 -0500

To make access to these documents easier, we've decided to post them all again in a single entry.

Attorney Wants Search for Latisha Frazier's Body

Laura Amico — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:47:02 -0500

An attorney for Brian Gaither, suspected of first-degree murder in the death of Latisha Frazier, is seeking to compel authorities to search for Frazier's body, believed to be in a Richmond landfill.

Eugene Ohm, representing Gaither at a felony status conference Friday morning, said physical evidence contained on Frazier's remains could determine whether his client be charged with first degree murder or manslaughter.

Gaither is one of six people accused in the brutal and deadly assault of 18-year-old Latisha Frazier in August 2010. Frazier, a young mother, was reported missing and she has not been found. Five of the six defendants have admitted to police that they participated in the attack on Frazier.

Prosecutors allege that Frazier was at defendant Johnnie Sweets’ apartment in Southeast D.C. on Aug. 1, 2010 when she was last seen alive. After being invited into a back bedroom in the apartment, Frazier was beaten, stomped on and choked, bound by her legs, her mouth taped shut, and her head covered before she was eventually “thrown” into a closet, prosecutors allege.

At issue specifically is the type of hold allegedly used to restrain Frazier, according to the defendant's accounts to police, Ohm said. If the hold is determined to be a "sleeper hold," also called a "blood choke," that would be grounds for a manslaughter charge; if it is a "choke hold," also called an "air choke," that could be a first degree murder charge, Ohm said.

"The best piece of evidence to determine that is the decedent's body," Ohm told Judge William Jackson. He urged the court to move quickly to secure Frazier's remains, citing the warming weather's quickening effects on decomposition.

"Timing is of the essence here," Ohm said.

In a Washington Post article today, MPD Police Chief Cathy Lanier said that Frazier's remains were likely buried "at a minimum of 70 feet" deep in the landfill. The search would take at least six months and cost more than $1 million, according to Lanier and the report.

Government prosecutors asked Ohm to put his request in writing, but attorney Chris Kavanaugh, on behalf of the government, said he wasn't sure what the government's "legal obligation" to a search is.

Defendants Johnnie Sweets, 17; Cinthya Proctor, 18; Anneka Nelson, 16; Laurence Hassan, 23; and Brian Gaither, 23 have all waived their rights to a preliminary hearing. A sixth defendant, Lanee Bell, 17, has been arrested on suspicion of Felony Murder (Kidnapping) in the case.

Kavanaugh said the U.S. Attorney's Office anticipates entering plea discussions with the defendant's "shortly."

Sixth Person Arrested in Latisha Frazier Case

Laura Amico — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:14:23 -0500

UPDATED
A 17-year-old from Southeast D.C. has been arrested and charged in the murder of Latisha Frazier, Metro Police reported this evening.

Lanee Bell is the sixth person arrested in the case. Two other female teens are also among those arrested. According to police, Bell was arrested on suspicion of Felony Murder (Kidnapping) and charged as an adult in the case, pursuant to Title 16.

Metro PD's press release follows after the jump.

Lanee Bell of Southeast, DC, pursuant to a Title 16 booking order, charging her with Felony Murder (Kidnapping) in the August 2, 2010 kidnapping and murder of Latisha Frazier.

February 15, 2011

Sixth Arrest Made in the Homicide of Missing Person Latisha Frazier

( Washington, DC) — Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch announced today that an additional suspect has been arrested in the homicide of Latisha Frazier.

On August 4, 2010, 18-year-old Latisha Frazier of the 4200 block of South Capitol Street, SE, was reported as a Missing Person case. The case was assigned to a detective in the Seventh District who investigated. On January 21, 2011, information was developed that Latisha Frazier may have been murdered. The case was then assigned to the Homicide Branch-Major Case Squad.

On January 22, 2010, sufficient information and probable cause was established that on August 2, 2010, Latisha Frazier was at the 1700 block of Trenton Place SE, where she was assaulted during a dispute and was ultimately murdered. At this time, her remains have not been located. On January 23, 2011 a suspect was arrested and charged with Murder Two. On February 1, 2011 a second suspect was arrested and charged with Felony Murder (Kidnapping). On Wednesday, February 2, 2011, two more suspects were arrested and charged with Felony Murder (Kidnapping). On February 3, 2011, a fifth suspect was arrested and charged with Felony Murder (Kidnapping).

On Saturday, February 12, 2011, members of the Homicide Branch Major Case Unit arrested 17-year-old Lanee Bell of Southeast, DC, pursuant to a Title 16 booking order, charging her with Felony Murder (Kidnapping) in the August 2, 2010 kidnapping and murder of Latisha Frazier.