Eric Kearney | Homicide Watch DC

Murder Charge, Weapons Charges Dropped in Case Against Ray Dicks

Sam Pearson — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:48:00 -0400

Prosecutors have dropped charges against murder suspect Ray Allen Dicks, freeing Dicks after 11 months in DC jail.

Judge William Jackson signed an order releasing Dicks Oct. 19; ten months earlier Jackson had found "substantial probability" in the case against the 22-year-old.

Dicks was accused of killing 24-year-old Eric Dionte Kearney, shooting him multiple times on Oct. 17, 2011, near Truxton Circle. In an indictment, Dicks was charged with first-degree murder while armed and three weapons violations.

Kearney was found shot near the 1600 block of Lincoln Road Northeast at about 8:18 p.m. Oct. 17, 2011, when officers responded to a call for reports of gunshots. A subsequent investigation led them to Dicks.

Dicks had been identified by a witness, according to an arrest warrant issued for him last year. Officers later spoke with multiple inmates at DC jail who told officers they overheard conversations identifying Dicks as the shooter.

Prosecutors thought the conversations showed that Dicks targeted Kearney, also known as Tay, because Kearney accused another man of being a police informant in his brother's, Kwan Kearney's, case.

Charging documents in the case allege that Dicks shot at Eric Kearney because he had heard that Eric Kearney was saying that when the alleged “snitch” in Kwan Kearney's case was released from jail and came home, that he shouldn’t “come to the block.”

“Tay is going around telling everybody I’m snitching on Kwan’s case,” a man identified as “Witness 5” told homicide investigators.

“I handled that Tay situation,” Dicks told Witness 5, while visiting DC Jail last month, another inmate told investigators.

Kwan Kearney was later convicted in the two murder cases he was charged in.

Officers from the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Dicks Nov. 15, 2011.

At a preliminary hearing, Dicks' attorney, Renee Raymond, suggested that Dicks could not have shot Kearney because he was enrolled in a class that met at the same time that the shooting took place.

Detective Sean Caine, who testified at the preliminary hearing, said that when he was questioned about the shooting he told detectives that he was in class when Kearney was killed. Attendance records indicate that he was signed in to Fortis College in Landover, Md. for a class from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. that night, Caine said. A test related to a medical technician’s degree was administered in that class period and a test with Dicks’ name on it was presented to the court.

Raymond was not available for comment this week.

“We just shot your man. It ain’t had to go like this."

Lindsey Anderson — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:49:37 -0400

A former neighborhood friend of Jamal Wilson, Kwan Kearney, and Jeremy Risper testified for nearly three hours this afternoon against Kearney and Risper who are on trial for first-degree murder while armed.

The friend, 20-year-old Joshua Geter, agreed to testify under a plea bargain. Geter was arrested for first-degree burglary on Nov. 22, 2010, eight days after Wilson was killed in a shooting.

Geter said Kearney’s brother, Eric Kearney, and Joshua Risper were considered “hot” or “snitches” after they testified against another friend in 2009. The Kearneys and Risper stopped coming around the First Street and O Street neighborhood soon after, Geter said.

He said he was with Wilson and a group of their friends when Kearney and Risper came looking for Wilson late at night on Nov. 13, 2010. Most of the group walked up the street, Geter said, but he stayed behind.

Later, shots went off down the street and Geter rejoined the group. Soon after the shots, he said Kearney told him: “We just shot your man. It ain’t had to go like this.”

Both defense attorneys primarily questioned Geter about his plea deal with the government and about whether he had spoken about the shooting before he was arrested for burglary, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Kearney’s attorney, Gene Johnson, asked Geter if he was being a "snitch" just like Risper and Eric Kearney. Geter, with a faint smile, said yes.

Geter said police never asked him about the murder and that the government approached him about the plea deal, not the other way around.

The trial will continue at 9:40 a.m. Monday with Judge Thomas Motley.

Ray Dicks Ordered Held in Eric Kearney's Death, Despite Arguments Against Witness ID and Alibi

Laura Amico — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:55:15 -0500

Relying on an eyewitness identification that Ray Dicks' defense attorney characterized as problematic, Judge William Jackson found substantial probability today in the case accusing Dicks of fatally shooting Eric Kearney over a jailhouse rumor.

"It appears that this witness had a fairly good opportunity to observe [the shooting]," Jackson said in his finding.

According to charging documents in the case, the eyewitness who identified Dicks in the line-ups said they saw the shooter standing in the 1600 block of Lincoln Road NE at about 8:18 p.m. when Eric Kearney rode past on his bike. The shooter fired a shot at Kearney’s back, and Kearney jumped from the bike and ran with the shooter in pursuit. Three more shots were fired at Kearney’s back, the witness said.

Defense Attorney Rene Raymond did not take issue with the witness's ability to observe, but rather that the witness participated in two different suspect identification procedures. In the first, the witness picked Dicks out of a photo array, saying that the photo looked similar to the person they had seen shoot at Kearney. Later, MPD conducted a line-up identification procedure with the same witness and included Dicks in that line-up. The witness picked Dicks out of the line-up.

Raymond said the identification does not amount to "real proof" because including the same man in two line-ups is "inherently suggestive" to the witness of whom they should select.

Jackson replied that conducting line-ups in such a fashion was once very common in DC courts. He appeared more concerned with a possible alibi that Dicks offered to detectives.

Detective Sean Caine, who testified in the case Wednesday, said Dicks told detectives that he was in class when Kearney was killed and attendance records indicate that he was signed in to Fortis College in Landover, Md. for a class from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. that night. According to evidence presented by the government Wednesday, a test related to a medical technician's degree was administered in that class period. A test with Dicks' name on it was presented to the court.

Prosecutor David Sayboldt suggested that it was possible that Dicks committed the murder at 8:18, walked five blocks to the New York Ave metro station, caught a train to Landover at 8:26, arrived in Landover at 9:08, walked two blocks to the school, and arrived in time to take the test which is typically administered around 9 p.m.

Jackson said the alibi, and information about it, deserved more thorough investigation and set a status hearing for Jan 27 to hear an update on the investigation into whether Dicks was in fact in class during Kearney's shooting.

Because Jackson found substantial probability, Dicks will remain in jail until at least that court date.

Did a Jailhouse Rumor Lead to Eric Kearney's Death?

Laura Amico — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:13:06 -0500

Kwan Kearney is awaiting trial in two separate murders in November 2010: Joseph Alonzo Sharps Jr. on Nov. 8 and Jamal Demetrius Wilson on Nov. 14.

His brother, Eric Kearney, also known as Tay, was supposed to be a witness for the defense in one of those cases, but he was shot and killed on Oct. 17 near Truxton Circle.

Prosecutors believe Eric Kearney's death is tied to his brother's case. Not because he was a witness, but because he may have accused another man of being an informant.

"Tay is going around telling everybody I'm snitching on Kwan's case," a man identified as "Witness 5" told homicide investigators.

Prosecutors say Ray Allen Dicks killed Eric Kearney over that rumor.

"I handled that Tay situation," Dicks told Witness 5, while visiting DC Jail last month, another inmate told investigators.

Dicks was arrested Tuesday and presented with the first-degree murder charge Wednesday. He's due in court November 23--the day before Thanksgiving--for a preliminary hearing.

Charging documents in the case allege that Dicks shot at Eric Kearney because he had heard that Eric Kearney was saying that when that alleged "snitch" was released from jail and came home, that he shouldn't "come to the block."

According to charging documents, a witness to the shooting said the shooter was standing in the 1600 block of Lincoln Road NE when Eric Kearney rode past on his bike. The shooter fired a shot at Kearney's back, and Kearney jumped from the bike and ran with the shooter in pursuit. Three more shots were fired at Kearney's back, the witness said.

An autopsy, the report of which was included in the charging documents, concluded that Kearney had three gunshot wounds, two of which were to his chest. The wounds were fatal, the report concluded.

Read the charging documents below.

Ray Dicks Arrested on Suspicion of Murder 1 in Eric Kearney's Shooting Death

Laura Amico — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:21:03 -0500

A 21-year-old Capitol Heights man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree murder while armed in connection with the October shooting death of Eric Kearney.

Ray Allen Dicks was presented with the charge Wednesday at DC Superior Court, according to court records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 23.

MPD's press release, which was posted to their website but not send to local media, is below.

Arrest Made in the Homicide in the 1600 block of Lincoln Road, NE

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Departments Homicide Branch have announced that an arrest has been made in the shooting death of 22 year-old Eric Kearney of Northeast, DC.

On Monday, October 17, 2011, at approximately 8:15 pm, units from the Fifth District responded to the 1600 block of Lincoln Road, NE, after hearing sounds of gunshots from that area. Upon their arrival, they located a male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel transported the victim to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2011, at approximately 6:15 pm, members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 21 year-old Ray Allen Dicks of Capitol Heights, MD, charging him with Murder One while Armed.

Delay in Joseph Alonzo Sharps Murder Prosecution after Kwan Kearney's Brother Killed

Laura Amico — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:31:42 -0400

A new trial date has been set for Kwan Kearney after his brother, a witness in his case, was killed.

Kearney was expected to stand trial on Oct. 31. He is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Joseph Alonzo Sharps Jr.

But just this week Kearney's brother, Eric Kearney, was killed in a shooting in Truxton Circle. Kearney's defense attorney said in a motion to the court that Eric Kearney was not only a "prime witness" in his brother's defense, but that the murder has "devastated" the Kearney family.

"[Kwan Kearney] is in an emotional state that places him in a posture where, it is my view, that he would not be mentally prepared for trial, presently," wrote defense attorney Gene Johnson. He added that the family family "is devastated emotionally and physically by this tragic event."

The U.S. Attorney's Office did not oppose the defense's motion to postpone the trial, which is now scheduled for Nov. 14.

Truxton Circle Shooting Victim Identified as Eric Kearney

Laura Amico — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:09:58 -0400

MPD has identified a man shot last night in Truxton Circle as Eric Kearney.

An earlier report indicated that the victim was 22-years-old. MPD's information poster about the homicide does not state Kearney's age.

Truxton Circle Shooting Victim 22-year-old Man, MPD says

Laura Amico — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:36:39 -0400

From MPD regarding Truxton Circle homicide Monday evening.

Monday night, October 17, at about 8:15 pm, Fifth District officers on patrol responded to the 1600 block of Lincoln Road, NE for the sound of gunshots.

When they arrived they found a 22 year old man who had been shot. The victim was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

If anyone has any information regarding this incident we ask that you call 727-9099.

Andy Solberg
Commander, 5D

Man Dead in Shooting near Truxton Park

Laura Amico — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:05:46 -0400

NBC reporter Charlie Bragale and WUSA staff both report that a man has died following a shooting near Truxton Park.

@dcpolicedept investigating a shooting 1600 Lincoln Rd., NE, male shot, taken to a local hospital. Homicide detectives called to the scene. about 17 hours ago via Seesmic twhirl ReplyRetweetFavorite @charlienbc Charlie Bragale

-UPDATE- @dcpolicedept now says the shooting victim from 1600 Lincoln Rd., NE has died. DC Police Homicide investigating. about 16 hours ago via Seesmic twhirl ReplyRetweetFavorite @charlienbc Charlie Bragale

A DCAlert states that the shooting was reported at 8:35 p.m. a Lookout was issued for a black male wearing a blue hoody and blue jeans.

Reports WUSA,

A police spokesperson said the shooting happened about 8:08 p.m. Monday.

A man was transported to the hospital with life threatening injuries. He was later declared dead.

The shooting is near where Bill Mitchell was killed in January.