Stephen Deon Barnes | Homicide Watch DC

20 Year Sentence in Gas Station Shooting that Killed Man, Injured Teenage Girl

Laura Amico — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:36:35 -0400

It was a moment of anger, Stephen Barnes said, that led him to fire a gun into a car parked at a gas station, killing 24-year-old Stephon Emmanuel Way and seriously wounding a 16-year-old girl.

On Wednesday he was sentenced for that crime; 20 years on a charge of second-degree murder.

"I wish that you forgive me," the 23-year-old, whose son was born just yesterday, told the families of the victims in court today. "I live with that for the rest of my life."

Judge Thomas Motley nearly did not accept the plea agreement between government and Barnes' defense attorney, telling the attorneys that he was concerned that an assault charge on behalf of the surviving teenager was not pursued.

"There were two individuals that were shot by gunfire. One of those individuals still has a bullet lodged in their head," Motley said, referring to the teen. "There is no charge with regard to what happened to her. There is nothing that acknowledges that she is a victim."

Prosecutor Heather Carlton said the agreed upon sentencing range for the second-degree murder plea allowed Barnes to be sentenced at the top end of the guidelines, possibly at a higher punishment than Barnes could have received had the case gone to trial and both the murder and assault charges been pursued.

She added that teen's family approved of the plea, and that the teen herself wished to avoid having to come to court and testify in the case.

"She is traumatized and she is trying to move on. She did not want to see the defendant even today," Carlton said.

But the teen's mother, who spoke at sentencing, said she did not understand how Barnes could not be sentenced for the injuries her daughter sustained.

"She can not swallow. She has mental problems. Now my daughter's a hermit," she said. "There is no justice. I don't understand how someone can not get some time."

For Way's mother, the pain was two-fold.

"This is the second son I lost to the streets," she told Motley. "It's crazy and it hurts so bad to lose not one, but two, sons to gunfire."

When entering the guilty plea, Barnes told Motley that he used a .45 automatic pistol to shoot into a car of people.

The government argued that Barnes was walking from his car to a cashier at the Benning Road gas station when Way called out to him, saying something like, “What are you looking at?”

Barnes walked back to his car, got his gun, walked to Way’s vehicle, and shot four times. One bullet struck Way in the head, killing him. Another struck the 16-year-old girl in the face.

“I just felt disrespected,” Barnes said. “I just blanked out and I was angry.”

On Wednesday Barnes' defense attorney, Eugene Ohm, told Motley that Barnes had mental health problems and had been in various programs since he was nine years old.

"He was passed around programs. He was misdiagnosed. He was placed on psychotropic medications that were not approved for children. I'm blaming society in part for what happened that night," Ohm said.

Motley's last words for Barnes touched on Ohm's concerns.

"Every life has value," he said. "Our hope for you is that in the time you [received] you will change."

"Guilty" Plea in NE DC Gas Station Shooting

Laura Amico — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:03:38 -0500

Stephen Barnes pleaded "guilty" today to one count of second-degree murder while armed in the Dec. 2011 shooting death of Stephon Way at a Northeast DC gas station. A 16-year-old girl was also injured in that shooting.

On Friday Barnes told Judge Thomas Motley that he was carrying a .45 automatic pistol and driving a silver Ford Focus on Dec. 11. He used the gun, he said, to shoot.

"I just felt disrespected," he said. "I just blanked out and I was angry."

According to the government's evidence, Barnes was walking from his car to a cashier at the Benning Road gas station when Way called out to him, saying something like, "What are you looking at?"

Barnes walked back to his car, got his gun, walked to Way's vehicle, and shot four times from about three feet away. One bullet struck Way in the head, killing him. Another struck the 16-year-old girl in the face. She survived.

MPD's Shot Spotter technology captured the sounds of the gunshots and traffic cameras recorded the license plate of the car Barnes said he was driving. Cartridge casings found on the scene matched a pistol found in Barnes' bedroom, and the surviving victim identified him in a lineup.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors and Barnes' defense attorney have agreed to suggest a sentence of 16 to 20 years in prison. The statutory minimum for second-degree murder while armed is five years and the maximum us 40 years.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 11.

Stephen Barnes Held in Gas Station Shooting Death of Stephon Way

Laura Amico — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:06:56 -0500

Stephen Barnes was ordered held today on suspicion of first-degree murder while armed in connection with a shooting that killed one man and injured a teenage girl.

Charging documents in the case against Barnes allege that the victim, Stephon Way, may have been the instigator in the fatal confrontation between the men. The shooting took place at a Benning Road NE gas station at about 4 a.m. on Dec. 10.

One witness to the shooting said Way began talking to Barnes as soon as Barnes exited his vehicle at the gas station. The witness said it appeared as though Way was "trying to instigate a response" from Barnes.

"What are you looking at. This Bitch motherfucker don't want no work, he don't want no smoke," the witness said Way said.

Another witness said others in the car with Way tried to placate Barnes.

"He's drunk; it's not even worth all that; chill out," the witness said others in the car told Barnes.

But according to the accounts of three witnesses, Barnes instead produced a handgun and shot at Way, killing him and injuring a 16-year-old girl who was also in the car.

Barnes was arrested after a surveillance photo of the street near the gas station recorded a photograph of a car described as being the one the shooter was driving. The license plate from the photo was traced to a rental car associated with Barnes. One witness identified Barnes in a photo line up.

In court documents detectives on the case noted that when Barnes was arrested a .45 Caliber Sig Sauer pistol was found in his home. Cartridge casings found at the scene of the shooting were also .45, but ballistics tests haven't been completed to determine if the casings match the weapon.

An assault rifle with a large capacity magazine was also found at Barnes' home. His attorney, Premal Dharia, pointed out to the court that there is no allegation that the assault riffle is related at all to this shooting.

Barnes is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing before Judge Thomas Motley on Jan. 20.

Read the charging documents below.

Stephen Deon Barnes Arrested in Connection with Fatal Shooting at NE DC Gas Station

Laura Amico — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:47:56 -0500

In the fifth homicide arrest in two days, Stephen Deon Barnes was arrested today in connection with the fatal shooting of Stephon Emmanuel Way.

Barnes, a 22-year-old Northwest DC man, is suspected of first degree murder while armed.

Way, 24, was shot at a gas station in Northeast DC on Dec. 10. A juvenile girl was also shot but survived.

Read MPD's press release below.

(Washington, DC)-Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch have announced an arrest has been made in the fatal shooting which occurred in the 4500 block of Benning Road, NE.

On Saturday, December 10, 2011, at approximately 3:57 am, a vehicle stopped in front of the Sixth District Police Station on Benning Road, NE. Some of the occupants ran into the station and advised officers of a shooting which occurred in the 4500 block of Benning Rd., NE, and the victims were located in the vehicle parked outside. Officers discovered an adult male unconscious and unresponsive, and a juvenile female conscious and alert, suffering from gunshot wounds. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services transported both victims to a local hospital where the adult male, identified as 24 year-old Stephon Emmanuel Way of Southeast, Washington, DC, succumbed to his injuries.

On Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at approximately 1:10 pm, members from the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 22 year-old Stephen Deon Barnes of Northwest, Washington, DC, pursuant to an arrest warrant and charged him with Murder One while Armed.