Domingo Ezirike | Homicide Watch DC

Rashad Slye Sentenced to 17 Years for Taxicab Shooting of Domingo Ezirike

Megan Arellano — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 14:26:08 -0400

"Sh*t is sad. Dude is dead. Shoulda had that sh*t on safety."

Alone and arrested, prosecutors say, these were Rashad Slye's words. He was suspected in the shooting death and attempted robbery of Domingo Ezirike, a 40-year-old cab driver from Prince Georges County.

Police found Ezirike on October 22, 2011 around 4:00 a.m., dead of a gunshot wound, in the 4300 block of Ponds St. Northeast.

Friday, more than two years after Ezirike's death and Slye's arrest, and three months after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, Slye was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

His words Friday were for his mother.

"In my twenty-three years, I never listened, not once. You told me, 'you gonna end up in jail," Slye said.

At sentencing, the mother of Ezirike's children, Stella Ayika, spoke about Ezirike's death.

The morning he was killed, Ezikike's daughters were waiting for their father to pick them up, Ayika told the court.

"How did daddy die? Was he sick? Why couldn't you save him?" the girls asked when they learned their father was dead, Ayika said. "I can't possibly muster the courage to tell my girls that another man killed him in cold blood."

Prosecutors said that they believe that Slye could have easily been convicted of first-degree murder had the case gone to trial. But after long negotiations with Slye's attorney, Douglas Woods, they decided to accept a plea of second-degree murder.

"There's no case we'd rather go forward with, given that this is a truly innocent individual, serving the community during his job," said Assistant United States Attorney David Gorman.

Prosecutors say that Ezirike stopped to pick up Slye and his girlfriend in his cab, but asked for $20 upfront to take them to Ponds St. Northeast from Maryland. During the ride, the two men got into an argument when Slye asked Ezirike to turn on the heat and the radio, and he refused.

Plea documents say that when the cab arrived at Ponds Street, Ezirike asked for an additional $7.75. Slye’s friend gave Ezirike $5.00 and Slye gave him $2.00, plea documents state. But Ezirike insisted on getting 75 more cents for the remainder of the fare, documents state.

Slye then began arguing over the fare and demanding the money back. He got out of the car, pulled out a silver 9mm handgun and told Ezirike to lay on the ground, then hit Ezirike in the head with the gun, court documents state.

After he was unable to find any money, Slye demanded to know where Ezirike kept his money, then told Ezirike to get back in the cab. As Ezirike sat in the cab’s driver’s seat, Slye shot him then fled, plea documents state.

Judge Anderson told Slye that she hesitated before accepting the plea agreement, noting that it seemed like "a very strong case for the government."

A press release from the United States Attorney's Office is below.

District Man Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison For 2011 Slaying of Taxicab Driver in Northeast Washington
-Shooting Took Place During a Robbery, Following Argument Over 75 Cents-

WASHINGTON – Rashad Slye, 23, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 17 years in prison for the 2011 killing of a taxicab driver during a robbery in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

Slye pled guilty in January 2014, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to a charge of second-degree murder while armed. The plea agreement, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for a sentence of 17 years in prison. The Honorable Jennifer Anderson accepted the plea agreement today and sentenced Slye accordingly. Upon completion of his prison term, Slye will be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to the government’s evidence, on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011, at about 2:50 a.m., Slye and a friend called for a taxicab at the Morgan Boulevard Metro station in Landover, Md. Within a few minutes, the victim, Domingo Ezirike, 40, arrived in his taxicab and picked up Slye and his friend. Slye asked to be taken to Ponds Street NE in the District of Columbia. Mr. Ezirike asked Slye and his friend for $20, and the friend gave Mr. Ezirike $20. Within minutes, Slye began arguing with Mr. Ezirike about the fare and about the lack of heat or music in the cab.

Mr. Ezirike drove the cab to the 4300 block of Ponds Street NE and he asked for an additional $7.75 in fare. Slye’s friend gave him $5 and Slye gave him $2. However, Mr. Ezirike insisted on the additional 75 cents, and he and Slye argued over the money.

After Slye’s friend got out of the cab and left the immediate area, Slye continued to argue over the fare. He pulled out a 9mm handgun and demanded the $20 back. He also ordered Mr. Ezirike out of the cab and onto the ground. At that point, he stood over Mr. Ezirike and began to rifle through his pockets, asking where the money could be found.

Slye struck Mr. Ezirike in the head with the gun and continued searching him, insisting he was hiding the money. Mr. Ezirike offered to remove his pants and while still on the ground, did so. Slye then entered the vehicle, still holding Mr. Ezirike on the ground at gunpoint, as he searched the front passenger compartment. He then ordered Mr. Ezirike back into the taxicab and insisted that he search for money. Then, as Mr. Ezirike sat in the driver's seat, Slye fired a single shot that struck him in the arm, causing him to immediately fall back into the seat and remain still. Slye immediately fled the scene towards the 1500 block of Anacostia Avenue NE.

Mr. Ezirike placed the vehicle in reverse and drove it backwards and onto grass on Anacostia Avenue. He died on the scene, as the bullet traveled from his arm and into his chest cavity.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of the detectives, officers and crime scene technicians who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Meridith McGarrity, Mia Beamon, Phaylyn Hunt, Paralegal Supervisor Sharon Newman, Victim/Witness Advocate Tamara Ince, and Information Technology Specialist Leif Hickling. Finally, he expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. Gorman and Kacie M. Weston, who prosecuted the case.

Rashad Slye Pleads Guilty in Domingo Ezirike Murder

Ivan Natividad — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 15:44:26 -0500

Rashad Slye pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed Friday in connection with the 2011 shooting death of 40-year-old cab driver, Domingo Ezirike.

Slye will likely get 17 years in prison for Ezirike's death, under an agreement with prosecutors.

Police found Ezirike on October 22, 2011 around 4:00 a.m. dead in the 4300 block of Ponds St. Northeast. The next day Slye, 23, was arrested and charged with first-degree felony murder while armed in Ezirike's death.

Plea documents state that around 2:50 a.m. the day of the murder, Slye was with a friend at the Morgan Boulevard Metro station in Landover, Md. waiting for a cab. Ezirike stopped to pick the two men up in his cab, and Slye asked Ezirike to take them to Ponds St. Northeast, court documents state.

Ezirike asked for $20 to take them into DC, and Slye's friend handed Ezirike the money, documents state.

While in the cab Slye asked Ezirike to turn on the heat and the radio, but he refused. Slye then got into a heated argument with Ezirike, but Slye's friend asked him to stop arguing, court documents state.

As they drove by a police station on Quarles St. Northeast, the cab was stopped by a detective who told Slye to fasten his seat belt, documents state.

When the cab arrived at Ponds Street, Ezirike asked for an additional $7.75. Slye's friend gave Ezirike $5.00 and Slye gave him $2.00, plea documents state. But Ezirike insisted on getting 75 more cents for the remainder of the fare, documents state.

Slye's friend got out of the cab, urged him to get out too, and then walked toward a residence on the 1500 block on Anacostia Avenue Northweast, plea documents state.

Slye continued to argue with Ezirike over the fare, demanding that he give the money back. Slye got out of the car, pulled out a silver 9mm handgun and told Ezirike to lay on the ground, then hit Ezirike in the head with the gun, court documents state.

Ezirike pleaded with Slye saying, "If I had money, I'd give it to you," court documents state.

Searching for money, Slye took Ezirike's clothes off, and also began searching the cab's front passenger compartment while still holding Ezirike on the ground, documents state.

Unable to find any money, Slye demanded to know where Ezirike kept his money, then told Ezirike to get back in the cab. As Ezirike sat in the cab's driver's seat, Slye shot him then fled, plea documents state.

An autopsy found that Ezirike died from one gunshot to the body, and his death was ruled a homicide.

The case is scheduled for sentencing on April 4 with Judge Jennifer Anderson.

Plea documents are below.

Slye, Rashad Plea Paperwork January 2014 (PDF)Slye, Rashad Plea Paperwork January 2014 (Text)

Rashad Slye Held in Cab Driver's Shooting Death, Despite "Circumstantial" Case

Amanda Yeager — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:11:19 -0500

Rashad Slye, who is suspected of first-degree murder in the October shooting of cab driver Domingo Ezirike, was ordered held today after Judge Gerald Fisher found substantial probability that he is responsible for the man's shooting death.

Procescutors say Slye, 20, killed the 40-year-old cab driver Oct. 22 after the two allegedly got into an argument over a shorted cab fare.

In court, Det. Anthony Greene, a member of the Metropolitan Police Department’s homicide branch, fielded questions about the night of the murder from both the prosecution and the defense.

The prosecution tried to connect Slye to the crime by presenting two photographs, found on a cell phone retrieved from his bedroom, that showed a 9 mm handgun which Greene said matched the 9 mm bullet shell casing recovered from the crime scene. The murder weapon still has not been found.

But Slye’s attorney, Christopher Griffiths, cast doubt upon whether the gun or the photographs could be definitively linked to his client. The phone that led detectives to the residence where Slye was arrested did not belong to him, but to a witness who claims to have been in the cab with Slye before the murder. The cell phone with the pictures has never been identified by Slye as his own. Both phones were retrieved from Slye’s bedroom, according to Greene.

Griffiths called the case “extremely circumstantial,” and questioned statements made by three of the witnesses in the case.

Witness 1, a bystander who observed the crime from “about 50 yards away,” according to Greene, said the shooter was a middle-aged black male.

Witness 2, who initially denied being in the cab with Slye the night of the murder but later said she had been there and had observed an argument between him and Ezirike, testified before a grand jury that there hadn’t been an argument between the two after all.

Witness 3, an MPD detective who had talked to Ezirike at a checkpoint shortly before the murder, said that he had made eye contact with a light-skinned male passenger with dreadlocks and a multicolored knit cap sitting in the taxi’s middle seat. He said he believed there was a second passenger seated behind Ezirike, but he couldn’t distinguish any of that passenger’s features. Neither Slye, whose hair is short and cropped, nor Witness 2, described as a female with long, straight hair, has dreadlocks.

While acknowledging that the case was circumstantial, Fisher said the cell phone photos potentially linking Slye to a gun similar to the one used in the murder were enough to constitute probable cause.

A felony status conference for Slye has been scheduled for March 19, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in court room 318.

Court Apperances for Kevin Benbow, Rashad Slye Postponed

Laura Amico — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:36:22 -0500

Preliminary hearings scheduled for Friday in two murder cases have been postponed.

Rashad Slye, who was due to appear on a charge of first degree felony murder while armed in the shooting death of Domingo Ezirike, is now expected for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 29.

Kevin Benbow, who was due to appear on a charge of first degree murder in the shooting death of Jinnell McQueen, is now expected for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 27.

Links Roundup: Domingo Ezirike and Rashad Slye

Laura Amico — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:35:44 -0400

After the jump, a roundup and summary of coverage of Rashad Slye's murder charge in the shooting death of Maryland cab driver Domingo Ezirike.

Shorted Fare, Arguement over Heat and Music, May Have Led to Cab Driver's Shooting Death

Amanda Yeager — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:03:16 -0400

A Maryland cab driver may have been killed over a shorted seventy-five cents.

That's according to court documents charging Rashad Terrell Slye with first-degree murder. Slye, 20, who appeared in court Monday afternoon, was ordered held pending a preliminary hearing in the case.

Prosecutors allege that Slye fatally shot cab driver Domingo Ezirike on Saturday.

Charging documents state that Slye and another person, identified as Witness 2, called P.G. Cab Company around 2:50 a.m. Saturday to ask for a ride from Morgan Boulevard metro station in Landover, Md., to Ponds Street NE in the District. Erizike was sent to pick them up, and he asked for $20 upfront in order to transport the two into the city.

Slye's companion stated that, Slye and Erizike began to argue after Slye asked the cab driver to turn on the heat and radio and Erizike refused. When the cab arrived at the 4300 block of Ponds Street, Erizike asked for an additional $7.75 fare. When Slye and his companion only paid $7, Erizike pressed for the final 75 cents, the witness said. Erizike unlocked the doors to the cab and the witness left, but Slye continued to argue with the driver, charging documents allege.

Another witness said they were on Ponds Street when they heard a man arguing with Erizike. According to charging documents:

“[The witness] advised that it heard a male voice state ‘Give me my $20 dollars back.’ in an aggressive tone, as if the person in the backseat was arguing with the driver. It then heard the male voice demand to be let out of the cab. It was at this time, [the witness] observed a black male emerge from the rear driver’s seat door, armed with a silver hand gun.”

That witness goes on to state that the armed man ordered Erizike to get out of the cab, then searched Erizike’s clothes and glove compartment for money. The witness said the armed man then ordered the cab driver back into the vehicle, shot him once and then fled the scene.

Court documents state Erizike called 911 at 3:27 a.m. He was pronounced dead on the scene by paramedics. His wallet was recovered in the 1500 block of Anacostia Avenue, behind the building where Slye allegedly fled after the shooting.

In court Monday afternoon, Slye’s attorney, Elizabeth A. Mullin, cast doubt upon the statements made by both witnesses. “Witness 1 and 2 appear to have a substantial motive to fabricate and point fingers,” she said.

Mullin noted that Witness 2’s phone had been used to call the cab, that they were in the car with Slye prior to the crime and that they had been observed by a Metropolitan Police Department detective in the back of the cab at a police checkpoint on Quarles Street shortly before the shooting occurred.

Mullin also pointed out that Slye does not have a prior criminal record and “has strong ties to his community.”

But Judge Karen Howze determined that the charging documents provide “enough evidence to suggest [Slye] is a danger.”

Slye’s preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 18 at 9:30 a.m., in front of Judge Gerald Fisher.

Read the charging documents below.

Rashad Terrell Slye Arrested in Shooting Death of Md. Cab Driver, Domingo Ezirike

Laura Amico — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:12:28 -0400

A Maryland cab driver killed in what may have been a robbery attempt has been identified as Domingo Ezirike, a 40-year-old man from Prince Georges County.

Rashad Terrell Slye, 20, of Southeast DC, has been arrested in connection with case on suspicion of first degree felony murder while armed.

A press release from MPD is below.

October 23, 2011

Arrest Made in the Homicide: 4300 block of Ponds Street, NE

Washington, DC)-Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating the fatal shooting which occurred in the 4300 block of Ponds Street, NE.

On Saturday, October 22, 2011, at approximately 3:55 am, units from the Sixth District discovered an unconscious and unresponsive adult male suffering from a gunshot wound in the 4300 block of Ponds St., NE. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel determined that the victim had no signs consistent with life. The victim was then transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner where he was pronounced dead.

The decedent is identified as 40-year-old Domingo Ezirike of Prince Georges County, MD.

On Sunday, October 23, 2011, members of the Homicide Branch arrested 20-year-old Rashad Terrell Slye of Southeast Washington, DC, charging him with First Degree Felony Murder while Armed for the homicide shooting of Domingo Ezirike.

Cab Driver Killed in NE DC Shooting

Laura Amico — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:55:40 -0400

A Maryland cab driver was killed in a shooting in Northeast DC, about a half mile from the Maryland border, early Saturday morning, according to reports from Fox5 and WJLA.

Fox5 reports:

Arriving officers found a white and green taxicab from Prince George's County apparently backed up on the lawn at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens park. There appeared to be two bullet holes in or near the cab's front windshield. Responding officers found an adult, male driver "unconscious with no signs of life," according to a police spokesman. Investigators believe the apparent motive was robbery.

A DC Alert was issued at about 5 a.m. It said:

Police Alert-SHOOTINGSHOOTING_0355 HOURS_ANACOSTIA AVE/PONDS ST NE_B/M SLIM BUILD, DARK COMPLEXION, BLUE JACK... http://t.co/TXx1u8Jh October 22, 2011 4:32 am via twitterfeed ReplyRetweetFavorite @dcalerts dcalerts