Garey Thomas Gordon | Homicide Watch DC

Involuntary manslaughter plea in Garey Gordon murder case

Laura Amico — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:56:17 -0400

The 15-year-old girl accused of fatally shooting 18-year-old Anacostia High School sophomore Garey Gordon, has pleaded "involved," a juvenile plea equivalent to "guilty."

The girl entered her plea to involuntary manslaughter on April 21. Homicide Watch D.C. learned of it today at a hearing for her release.

On Monday Judge Patricia Broderick declined to release the teen or to rule on the consequences for involuntary manslaughter, saying that the court did not yet have enough information about the girl to determine what type of release or confinement would be most beneficial for her.

The teen's "involved" plea applies to four charges: involuntary manslaughter, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm. Three additional charges were dropped: voluntary manslaughter while armed, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of ammunition without valid registration.

D.C. Superior Court rules prohibit Homicide Watch from identifying the teen involved because she is a juvenile.

The 15-year-old's attorney advocated for her return home to her parents. The attorney said that it was a "lack of structure" at home that led to her client's "terrible mistake," but that parenting classes could improve the home situation.

Prosecutors argued that the teen hasn't done well in the custody of a shelter house. She was late for curfew and, within 48 hours of being placed there, tested positive for marijuana, they said.

Broderick said those factors influenced her decision to seek more information in the case.

"It's not a question of parenting classes," the judge said. "This is a child who needs a lot of guidance... I'm not satisfied that we have a plan yet."

Trial to Start Monday for Teen Accused of Killing Garey Gordon

Laura Amico — Fri, 06 May 2011 17:43:25 -0400

A fifteen-year-old girl charged with killing 18-year-old Anacostia High School senior Garey Gordon is expected to be in court Monday morning for the start of her trial.

The girl told authorities that she did not think the gun was loaded, and had taken steps to unload it, before pointing it at Gordon and firing, a homicide detective testified at her preliminary hearing in March.

“She said she removed the magazine and was playing with the gun,” Officer John Bevilacqua, said. “She pointed it at the decedent, pulled the trigger, and shot him.”

Magistrate Judge Diana Harris Epps found probable cause in the case after Bevilacqua's testimony. She ruled that even if the teen had no intention of shooting Gordon, playing with the firearm showed gross neglect.

Juvenile proceedings are not open to the public and court regulations prohibit us from naming the juvenile involved.

He was on our list. They are all on our list.

Laura Amico — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:13:34 -0400

This guest column about teen Garey Gordon, killed March 20 in Southeast D.C., comes from Paul Penniman, executive director at Resources for Inner City Children, an educational resource for inner city youth. He wrote on his personal blog, Inner City Visions, this weekend about Gordon.

After eight years of RICH's existence, Garey Gordon was the first student of mine to die suddenly. As you can read here, his death was unnecessary.

Although Garey's death does not haunt me, I often ask why he died. I think first of the facts:

1. He was an 18-year old tenth grader at Anacostia High School who just barely passed geometry in the fall semester. I had called his house in January to try to get him to do more geometry work to get his grade up to a C. He seemed willing to meet me at the library to do this if he could get a ride from his uncle, but he did not show up.

2. Garey stopped coming to school in February. During this time, we at RICH met several times with the attendance counselor at the high school and other neighborhood groups to brainstorm on how to get more students to come to school. The best tactic we came up with was home visits by teachers on Friday afternoons.

3. Garey was not the only truant. By January, fewer than 60% of the students at the Matthew Henson Academy, the subset of Anacostia High School that he attended, were coming to school on an average day. School-wide, there are approximately 200 students who have stopped coming to school on a regular basis.

4. On February 25, about a dozen families had meaningful visits from teachers. Other families were not home. About half of those students started coming back to school. Not a huge number, but a start.

Garey was on my list, but I did not get around to visiting him and his mom. There are a lot of students whose parents I would like to meet to either tell them how smart their child is or tell them that their child has not been coming to school. Time and money constrain me and RICH from visiting everyone we would like. Most of the phone numbers we have for these students are inaccurate.

The word on the street is that Garey had eight friends at home at the time of the shooting, that there was an argument about shoes, that he was shot in the back, that he was propped up against a window to make it look like a drive-by before someone called 911. He was shot by his girl friend's friend.

For the younger teachers, some who are less than half my age of 53, Garey's death was difficult to handle. It is hard for them to fathom the massive financial and intellectual poverty in their students' community, and hard to appreciate the incremental progress that they are making with their students. I like to tell them they are moving the ball slowly down the field, that they are building great relationships with the students who do come to school, but it is hard for them not to think of the negative outcomes they see.

Garey needed almost daily mentoring. I did not know him well, but there is a reason most students stop coming to school. They might be depressed; they might have to take care of a relative; they might not have any clean clothes; they might have an addiction. The other 199 truant students at Anacostia also need constant mentoring. Multiply this number by approximately 20, and you have, citywide, a rough number of students who are close to the edge of dropping out.

What happens to these dropouts? The American Youth Policy Forum, in documents such as this, tell a grim story. Half become incarcerated by age 35. Deaths such as Garey's are not uncommon.

Is RICH helping? Yes, and that is what keeps me going. It is a tremendous challenge to try to figure out how to best use our time and resources. We are at war on this poverty, forty-plus years after LBJ popularized the phrase.

Another boy, whose initials are PH, is back in school because of our intervention. When we visited his home, we found out his mom had not paid the water bill. No water means no clean clothes, and while some students do not mind wearing the same pair of pants two weeks in a row, not every boy will do this. Now, every time I see PH in school, I smile and punch him in his stomach, gently.

Gary Gordon's Funeral Today

Laura Amico — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:59:19 -0400

UPDATED: Gary Gordon,'s funeral was today at 10 a.m. at Emmanuel Church of Christ in Southeast D.C. The Anacostia High School senior's obituary is here.

Thanks, Krisa for pointing us in the right direction. Looks like his name was spelled differently in the obit than it was on Facebook and in police reports.

Teen Accused in Gary Gordon's Homicide to be Tried in May

Laura Amico — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:03:26 -0400

The teen accused of fatally shooting Gary Gordon in Southeast D.C. last weekend will be held in custody until her trial in May, the Associated Press reports.

The girl appeared in court for a hearing today. A trial date of May 9 was set at the hearing, AP said.

Teen Suspected in Deadly Shooting told Police she Thought Gun wasn't Loaded

Laura Amico — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:27:39 -0400

UPDATED: A fifteen-year-old girl told police she thought a 9mm handgun was not loaded when she pointed it at Gary Gordon, pulled the trigger, and shot him, a MPD detective said today at the girl's detention hearing.

D.C. Superior Court rules prohibit Homicide Watch from identifying the teen involved because she is a juvenile.

"She said she removed the magazine and was playing with the gun," the testifying detective, Officer John Bevilacqua, said. "She pointed it at the decedent, pulled the trigger, and shot him."

Bevilacqua said the teen told investigators that she "didn't think [the gun] was loaded."

A witness told police the teen shouted, "I shot Gordon," after firing the weapon, the teen's attorney said.

Gordon, an 18-year-old senior at Anacostia High School, was struck by the bullet in his back.

Judge Diana Harris Epps found probable cause in the case on charges that the teen unlawfully killed someone with gross negligence, ruling that even if the teen had no intention of shooting Gordon that playing with the firearm showed gross neglect.

In total, probable cause was found in seven charges: Voluntary Manslaughter while armed, Involuntary Manslaughter, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Carrying a Pistol without a License (misdemeanor), Possession of unregistered Firearm/ Unlawfule Possession of a Firearm or Destructive Device, Possession of ammunition without valid registration (misdemeanor), and Discharging Firearm.

The teen is next due in court March 24.

Gary Gordon remembered by friends, family

Laura Amico — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:45:28 -0400

According to friends and family on Facebook and Twitter tonight, Gary Gordon, an 18-year-old Southeast D.C. man killed Sunday afternoon, was an Anacostia High School student and basketball player.

They remembered him online. (Memories after the jump.)

One Teen Killed, Another Arrested, in SE DC Shooting Sunday

Laura Amico — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:13:18 -0400

Gary Gordon, an 18-year-old D.C. man, was shot and killed in the block of Southeast D.C. where he lived Sunday afternoon. An unidentified 15-year-old girl was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder in the case.

According to MPD:

March 20, 2011

Arrest Made in Homicide in the 2600 block of Stanton Rd. SE

( Washington, DC) — Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch announced a suspect has been arrested in the homicide in the 2600 block of Stanton Road, SE.

On Sunday, March 20, 2011, at approximately 2 p.m. members of the Seventh District responded to a residence in the 2600 block of Stanton Road, SE for the report of a shooting. Upon arrival on the scene they found a male victim inside suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Personnel from DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded and transported the victim to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead. The victim has been identified as 18-year-old Gary Gordon of the 2600 block Stanton Road, SE.

A 15-year-old juvenile female has been arrested and charged with Murder Two While Armed.

Teen shot, killed in Southeast D.C.

tbd.com |

Police are searching for two black males who fled on foot. They are described as between 13 and 17 years of age. One was wearing faded gray jeans, a yellow sweat shirt and a white beanie.The second was only described as wearing a dark jacket. Both were described as having short hair cuts.

15-Year-Old Girl Accused of Killing Another Teen: MyFoxDC.com

15-year-old charged in fatal shooting

washingtonpost.com | Mar 21, 2011

Gary Gordon was found shot about 2 p.m. in an apartment in the 2600 block of Stanton Road, officers said. He had been a basketball player at Anacostia High School. School Principal Ian Roberts said he “played on the JV team last year.” The suspect’s name was not released.