Prince Okorie | Homicide Watch DC

Raymond Roseboro Gets 40 Years in Prince Okorie Murder, Maintains Innocence

Penny Ray — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:50:50 -0400

Judge Russell Canan sentenced Raymond Roseboro to 40 years in prison Wednesday for the 2010 murder of 16-year-old Prince Okorie.

The sentence means Roseboro, 23, will spend most of his life in prison.

"I didn't kill him," Roseboro said. "I didn't pull the trigger. I'm innocent."

Okorie's mother described Prince as a churchgoer who abstained from smoking, alcohol and sex to be true to his faith.

"Roseboro, I forgive you from the bottom of my heart, but I will never forget you," she said in court. "My grandchildren are not here, because they are scared what would happen to them when he gets out. Your Honor, please don't let him ever see the street. My grandchild is counting on you."

A jury convicted Roseboro of first-degree murder and related weapons offenses in connection with the case in February; two previous trials resulted in hung juries. At sentencing Wednesday, Roseboro maintained his innocence.

Roseboro's defense attorney, James Rudasill Jr., said Roseboro plans to appeal the jury's verdict. Rudasill said that Roseboro believes that prosecutors had cell phone tower information that would exonerate him of Okorie's murder.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Gripkey said he had provided Rudasill with all necessary evidence before the trial. Rudasill also could have obtained cell phone data directly from the phone company, Gripkey said.

Still, the two earlier hung juries “suggest that there’s a quantum residual of doubt in this case,” Rudasill said.

At trial, two witnesses testified that on Nov. 30, 2010, Roseboro was part of a group who were walking in the 800 block of Delafield Place Northwest when Roseboro suddenly pulled a gun and shot Okorie. Roseboro had asked Okorie to walk with him to a nearby store, and two others joined, the witnesses testified.

Roseboro, though, maintains that he was at home the afternoon of the murder, preparing to meet with a career counselor.

Roseboro’s mother, Raylette, testified at trial that Roseboro never left her sight from the time he arrived home from school at 4 p.m. until the career counselor left around 6 p.m. Police place the time of Okorie’s murder between 4 and 4:30 p.m. The first 911 call arrived at 4:25 p.m.

Raylette Roseboro addressed the court Wednesday.

"I'm sorry to the Okorie family for their loss, but my son is not a monster," Raylette Roseboro said. "I told the truth. My son was at home."

At the third trial, prosecutors used Roseboro's former girlfriend to poke holes in his alibi. She testified Roseboro dropped her off on his porch after school and didn’t return home until 15 minutes before the career counselor arrived.

Phone records introduced at trial show that Roseboro missed several calls from his then-girlfriend around the time of the murder. Roseboro, though, told detectives that he was home "snuggling with her on the couch."

The phone data "completely rebutted" Roseboro's claims, Gripkey said.

Although Judge Canan didn't allow prosecutors to introduce evidence of a motive at trial, prosecutors think they know why Roseboro wanted to kill Okorie.

About 11 days before Okorie’s death, during a preliminary hearing for Eric Foreman, two defense attorneys introduced themselves in open court and said they represented Okorie. The attorneys also said Okorie was a potential witness against Foreman -- who was convicted last year of first-degree murder for shooting and killing Catholic University of American graduate student Neil Godleski in 2010.

Prosecutors think Roseboro killed Okorie to keep him from "snitching" on Foreman, his friend, Gripkey said.

Judge Canan said that even though the evidence of motive was insufficient, "the government may very well be right." And even without that evidence, it was a "senseless and cowardly killing," Canan said.

Okorie “was effectively lured to his death by Mr. Roseboro,” Canan said.

Several of Okorie's friends from church attended the hearing Wednesday. They described him as sweet, quiet and respectful, with a lot of potential.

The community "lost a very bright light" when Okorie died, Canan said. He said Okorie “appears to be a 16-year-old who had a lot of potential."

According to a church newsletter, Okorie’s sister, Beckie Okorie, gave birth late last year to a baby boy. His name? Prince Okorie.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's office is below.

District Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison For Murdering 16-Year-Old in Northwest Washington - Victim, a Student at Roosevelt High School, Was Walking With the Defendant
And Friends When the Defendant Suddenly Shot and Killed Him

WASHINGTON – Raymond Roseboro, 23, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 40 years in prison for first-degree premeditated murder while armed and related weapons charges in the slaying of a 16-year-old boy, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

Roseboro was found guilty by a jury in February 2013, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Two previous trials, in March and September of 2012, had resulted in hung juries. During the trial this year, the government presented additional evidence.

In sentencing Roseboro, the Honorable Russell F. Canan described the murder as a “senseless and cowardly killing” in which the defendant essentially “lured” the victim, Prince Okorie, to his death. The judge also ordered that, upon completion of his prison term, Roseboro will be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to the government's evidence presented at trial, the homicide occurred just before 4:25 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2010, near the intersection of Delafield Place and 8th Street NW, near the Sherman Circle area. Mr. Okorie was a student at Roosevelt Senior High School, along with the defendant and other witnesses.

Sometime after school let out at 3:15 p.m., Mr. Okorie and other teenagers were standing on a nearby neighborhood porch when Roseboro and Roseboro’s girlfriend walked by, heading towards the direction of the defendant’s nearby home. Mr. Okorie and some of his friends then left that porch and headed toward another home near the intersection of 7th and Emerson Streets NW, which was a frequent hangout among teenagers.

Soon thereafter, Roseboro appeared and asked Mr. Okorie to walk to the store with him. Two of Mr. Okorie’s friends joined them. As the group of four began walking to a nearby store, one of them had a quick conversation with a parent before rejoining the group along their walk. That parent recognized the defendant’s face as being among the young men who were walking with Mr. Okorie, and later selected Roseboro from a photo array.

The group continued walking along. There were no signs of animosity or tension, and Roseboro revealed only a calm exterior. Suddenly, just as the group had turned onto Delafield Place, shots rang out. One of Mr. Okorie’s friends in the group heard the shots and saw the victim falling; this friend ran off, his ears ringing. A second of Mr. Okorie’s friends, whose ears were also ringing and who had been distracted at seeing an adult across the street doing something with trash, heard a gunshot and looked to see Mr. Okorie lying on the ground. When that second friend looked up, he saw the defendant standing near Mr. Okorie with a gun in his hand and a mean “mug” on his face. The second friend then ran away, north on 8th Street, and heard additional shots as he ran from the scene.

Meanwhile, the adult across the street looked over at some point after the first shot and saw the victim lying on the ground and the shooter standing over him, firing at the victim with a gun in his hand. The adult was not able to recognize or identify the shooter, but did notice that the gunman had a hairstyle that consisted of short twists or dreads, and that the shooter ran into an alley that pointed in a southeasterly direction. The adult was also certain that the gunman had been walking among the group that was with the victim before the shooting.

Additional evidence revealed that Roseboro was the only one in the group with the hairstyle described by the adult. In addition, the direction of the alley that the shooter was seen running into pointed towards Roseboro’s home, which was a short walk from the murder scene. Autopsy evidence revealed that the shooting was at close range, consistent with witness accounts. Firearms evidence was also consistent with the witness accounts of there being one shooter, as the three .45 caliber casings that were recovered from the scene were fired from the same gun.

The government also presented evidence at trial that Roseboro was seen not long after the murder at his home, where he attended a meeting with a job counselor who arrived at the residence no earlier than 5:13 p.m.. The defendant’s demeanor at that meeting was as calm and relaxed as witnesses had reported his demeanor just seconds before the shooting.

As at previous trials, in the most recent trial Roseboro took the witness stand and contended that he had walked home after school with his girlfriend and remained with her at his home during the entire time period until the job counselor arrived. The defense also relied on the testimony of two of Roseboro’s relatives, the defendant’s mother and his cousin, to argue that the defendant had arrived home and stayed at home with his girlfriend during this entire time period.

In addition, the defendant himself denied even knowing the faces of Mr. Okorie’s friends who were with the victim at the time of his murder, claiming that was the case even after hearing their names during jury selection and seeing then seeing them when they took the stand at the first trial. Roseboro also denied ever having hung out near the porch where Mr. Okorie and his friends were before the shooter walked up and asked Mr. Okorie to come along with him to the store. Roseboro did acknowledge that the murder scene was a five- or ten-minute walk from his home.

At the most recent trial, the government presented rebuttal witnesses. The first, who had been called by the defense and had testified similarly at the last trial, testified that the defendant, Mr. Okorie, and Mr. Okorie’s friends did indeed know one another and were all friends, and had all hung out together on previous occasions. The witness also testified that Roseboro had been hanging out with the others near 7th and Emerson Streets on prior occasions before Mr. Okorie’s murder.

The second was Roseboro’s girlfriend at the time of the murder, who was then 16 years old. Her testimony conflicted with that of the defendant and his relatives. The girlfriend’s account – and the defendant’s cellphone records -- refuted his contention that he was snuggling with her on the living room couch, and being watched by his mother, at the time of the murder.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of the Metropolitan Police Department, including homicide detectives, mobile crime officers, and firearms examiners, as well as the work of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia. Mr. Machen also thanked the records custodian office for Sprint. U.S. Attorney Machen additionally commended the efforts of those who assisted with the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Marian Russell, Starla Stolk, Diana-Maria Laventure, Brendan Tracz, and Phaylyn Hunt; Marcey Rinker and Shawn Slade of the Victim Witness Assistant Unit; and Joseph Calvarese and Anisha Bhatia of the Litigation Services Unit. He additionally thanked librarians Lisa Kosow and Abbie Blankman, and Victim/Witness Service Coordinator La June Thames.

Finally, he thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Gripkey, who indicted and tried the case each of the three times.

Jury Convicts Raymond Roseboro on All Counts in 2010 Prince Okorie Murder

Sam Pearson — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:36:09 -0500

It was a case that stumped two previous juries. The first one deliberated for a week before giving up.

In Raymond Roseboro's third trial, the jury took less than a day.

The verdict: Guilty on all counts.

Judge Russell Canan is expected to sentence Roseboro April 10 at 9:30 a.m. for first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Jurors found there was enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Roseboro killed 16-year-old Prince Okorie in 2010 as the two young men walked to a local market after leaving class at Roosevelt High School. Roseboro's defense attorney, James Rudasill Jr., had argued Roseboro wasn't at the crime scene and was at home meeting with a career counselor.

Police never found the gun used, Rudasill argued, and the case hinged on witness identifications of Roseboro.

Roseboro has already spent more than two years in jail as the case was prepared for trial, tried and retried. In 2011, he had to be hospitalized after another inmate stabbed him five times.

Prosecutors initially said in court proceedings they thought Roseboro killed Okorie because he feared Okorie would testify against a friend, Eric Foreman, who faced charges in the 2010 murder of Catholic University of America student Neil Godleski. But prosecutors chose not to show evidence of a motive at trial.

Rudasill said he knew the outcome of this final trial Wednesday as soon as the foreperson stood up.

"I knew what the outcome was going to be once I saw who the foreperson was. This case was lost during jury selection," said Rudsadill. "Every time the white man is the foreperson of the jury, my client's been convicted."

In an interview outside the courtroom, Rudasill said he believed that historically many juries allowed prosecutors a lower standard of proof in homicide cases than is currently standard. He added that the racial composition of juries in D.C. has shifted in recent years to become more white.

Roseboro's third jury consisted of eight white jurors, three black jurors and one Middle Eastern juror, Rudasill said.

At trial, prosecutors introduced evidence that was not included in the previous two trials including phone records obtained from Sprint and the testimony of Roseboro's former girlfriend, who spent time with him the day of the crime.

That evidence "probably changed the tides of the trial," Rudasill said. "The phone records were a big difference."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Gripkey declined to comment on the verdict. After the ruling, Gripkey stopped to talk with detectives and investigators in the witness room, some of whom had spent years on the case.

Because the verdict came so quickly, it seemed few had time to make it to court. There were no apparent family members in the gallery at the time.

Penny Ray contributed reporting to this story.

Jury Deliberations Begin in Third Trial Against Raymond Roseboro

Penny Ray — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:18:35 -0500

Jurors in the trial against Raymond Roseboro began deliberations this afternoon in a case that previously produced two hung juries.

Roseboro is suspected of shooting and killing 16-year-old Prince Okorie in Nov. 2010.

But the case has been difficult for prosecutors to prove. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Gripkey acknowledged to the jury at opening statements Jan. 28 that the facts of the case were difficult, and witness recollections sometimes imprecise.

The first trial, which Judge Canan also presided over, saw the jury deadlock. Another trial before Judge Thomas Motley in July produced the same result.

Tuesday was Gripkey's last chance to persuade this jury that Roseboro, Okorie and two other men were walking in the 800 block of Delafield Place Northwest when Roseboro suddenly pulled a gun and shot Okorie.

At trial, two witnesses testified that Roseboro was part of the group that November afternoon when Okorie collapsed to the ground from a gunshot wound to his head.

“Beyond every reasonable doubt, Raymond Roseboro murdered Prince Okorie,” Gripkey said.

Roseboro had asked Okorie to walk with him to a nearby store, and the other two joined, witnesses testified. Prosecutors contend that Roseboro sought out to kill Okorie specifically.

The defense, though, maintains that Roseboro was at home the afternoon of the murder, preparing to meet with a career counselor.

Roseboro's mother, Raylette, testified at trial that Roseboro never left her sight from the time he arrived home from school at 4 p.m. until the career counselor left around 6 p.m. Police place the time of Okorie's murder between 4 and 4:30 p.m. The first 911 call arrived at 4:25 p.m., prosecutors say.

Another witness who was also in the Roseboro home during the time of Okorie's murder testified that though Roseboro was home, he had in fact traveled throughout the house and behind closed doors several times that evening before the career counselor arrived.

And Roseboro's girlfriend testified that he had dropped her off on his porch after school that day, and didn't return home until 15 minutes before the counselor arrived; the counselor arrived at Roseboro's around 5:15 p.m., Gripkey said during closing arguments.

Gripkey said that phone records subpoenaed from Sprint showed Roseboro missed almost a dozen calls in the time between his dismissal from school at 3:15 p.m. and 4:46 p.m. Roseboro's mother, too, didn't call the career counselor, who was running late, until 5:13 p.m. to tell him her son was home waiting, the phone records showed.

Rudasill argued, though, that the real shooter is still at large.

“What Mr. Gripkey suggested in his argument is that somehow Mr. Roseboro's mother had knowledge of these events and produced him an alibi,” Rudasill said during closing arguments. “But the government got it wrong. They bought the wrong story.”

Rudasill told the jury it was important they consider the evidence that was missing and asked them to find Roseboro innocent.

"This is the last play in my client's Super Bowl," Rudasill said. "All he wants is a fair call from you."

The jury began deliberations around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and is scheduled to return for deliberations at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Sam Pearson contributed reporting.

Prosecutors Open Third Trial Against Raymond Roseboro for 2010 Prince Okorie Murder

Sam Pearson — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:22:31 -0500

Three teens were walking alongside Raymond Roseboro and Prince Okorie as the group of friends headed home from Roosevelt High School in Northwest Washington just before 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2010. Prosecutors say Roseboro shot Okorie so suddenly, with a gun no one knew he had, that only one teen could identify him before they all ran away.

Attorneys delivered opening statements in Judge Russell Canan’s courtroom Monday in a case that has proved elusive for prosecutors. It’s the third time Roseboro has faced trial at D.C. Superior Court for the murder. He faces first-degree murder while armed charges, along with several weapons charges.

“This was a murder that was unexpected; that came out of nowhere,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Gripkey told the jury.

Gripkey tried the case in Sept. 2012 before Judge Thomas Motley, only to have it end in a mistrial when the jury failed to reach a verdict. He spoke before Judge Canan before, too, in Roseboro’s first trial in March 2012. Gripkey convinced eight jurors that Roseboro was guilty, but four could not be swayed.

This time, though, almost certainly will be the last. Roseboro will either be sentenced to prison time or will leave D.C. jail a free man.

Roseboro’s attorney, James Rudasill Jr., said in an interview with Homicide Watch in November that he had represented only one other murder defendant who stood trial three times, and that was in the mid-1990s. Ultimately, prosecutors gave up when the third jury deadlocked 6-6, Rudasill said.

Legal precedent makes it very difficult for prosecutors to try a case a fourth time if they still cannot secure a conviction, Rudasill said.

Rudasill said in court that the jury needed to keep in mind what was not known about what happened the afternoon of Nov. 30, 2010.

No ballistic, physical, forensic or fingerprint evidence links Roseboro to the scene, Rudasill said, and the gun used to shoot Okorie was never recovered.

Roseboro maintains he was at home preparing to meet with a vocational counselor at the time of the murder.

Gripkey said he planned to call as witnesses the other teens who were with Okorie at the time of the attack, as well as two adults – one the parent of one of the teens – who saw them near the time of the murder.

Rudasill, though, aimed to discredit those witnesses and topple the prosecution’s case.

He said in November that both side’s witnesses would be equally compelling on the stand.

“It’s very difficult for a reasonable juror to resolve that difference,” Rudasill said.

Raymond Roseboro Faces Unusual Third Murder Trial in 2010 Prince Okorie Killing

Sam Pearson — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:27:41 -0400

Dressed in a light blue button-down shirt, a blue and white stripped tie, and dark gray slacks, Raymond Roseboro took the stand in March to testify on his own behalf. Charged with murder and facing a minimum 30 years in prison, the 21-year-old tried to convince jurors that he was innocent.

In part, he succeeded. After four days of deliberations jurors told Judge Russell Canan that they were deadlocked; eight jurors were in favor of finding Roseboro guilty and four were against it.

In September prosecutors retried the case, but again the jury deadlocked.

Judge Thomas Motley urged jurors to press on, telling them: “There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to 12 persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it nor to suppose that more or clearer evidence will be produced on one side or the other.”

The admonishment to come to a verdict was again unsuccessful. Jurors deadlocked evenly with two jurors unable to decide guilt. After four days of deliberations, Motley declared a mistrial.

The jury in that trial told Motley:

"The jury has made a thorough and thoughtful deliberation of all of the evidence provided, with much soul searching and respectful debate," the note said. "While we understand that concensus [sic] is desirable, we do not believe that is possible."

Now Roseboro, who has spent 22 months in jail while waiting for first one trial, then another, is waiting for a third trial. Jury selection is scheduled to begin in January.

Roseboro's defense attorney, James Rudasill Jr. said Roseboro’s detention while awaiting trial is permissible under United States v. Salerno, a 1987 Supreme Court ruling, but that being locked up before trial is difficult and the circumstances of Roseboro's situation are extremely rare.

Rudasill said he has represented only one other murder defendant whose case did, and that was in the mid-1990s. Prosecutors abandoned the case after jurors deadlocked 6-6 on the third attempt, Rudasill said.

Roseboro's case is the first record of a murder charge going to a third trial in the District of Columbia since Homicide Watch DC first started keeping records in Sept. 2010.

•

Roseboro is accused in the shooting death of 16-year-old Prince Okorie in Nov. 2010.

16-year-old Prince Okorie.

The shooting took place on a residential street in Petworth at 4:20 in the afternoon and when Roseboro was arrested, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier seemed pleased to have the case closed.

"This homicide occurred on an afternoon on a residential street," Lanier said in a 2010 news release. "Members of the community offered information and have been anxious to see this case come to a closure. Our communities have spoken -- this city is not a place where you can get away with murder."

MPD Homicide Detective Darin March said at a preliminary hearing that investigators believe Okorie was killed because of rumors that he was cooperating with the government’s investigation into Eric Foreman, a friend of Roseboro’s who was later convicted of killing Neil Godleski, a Catholic University of America graduate student.

According to charging documents, prosecutors believe Roseboro invited Okorie to walk to a store with him and two other friends. On the way there, they say, he shot Okorie in the back of the head and the face.

At trial, two witnesses for the prosecution, both young men who said they were friends of Okorie and Roseboro, said that the four were walking together to a shop when a gunshot rang out. One of the men’s fathers testified that he saw the group of young men walking in the direction of the shop that afternoon, then, a few minutes later, heard sirens.

Another prosecution witness, a nearby resident who witnessed the shooting while taking out the trash, identified the shooter as having “short dreads.” Prosecutor Steve Gripkey argued that Roseboro was the only one in that group who had that hairstyle at the time.

Those witnesses, said Gripkey, had reason to remember details of that day because for them, Nov. 30, 2010, was “not an ordinary day.” Those witnesses, Gripkey said, were confronted with “all of that drama, all of that horror, [of Okorie’s death] on Delafield.”

A gun used to shoot Okorie was never found, and a shell casing left at the scene failed to yield any fingerprints that might have linked Roseboro to the crime.

On the stand Roseboro testified that he did not shoot Okorie the afternoon of Nov. 30, 2010. In an accounting of how he had spent that day, Roseboro said he was at home that afternoon, at the same time Okorie was shot, waiting for an appointment with a jobs counselor.

Roseboro said he saw Okorie the afternoon that Okorie was killed. He said that while walking home he saw Okorie sitting on a porch with nine or ten young men about the same age as Okorie. He didn’t see anyone he recognized, except Okorie.

“He was Muslim and I’m a Muslim so when I see him I greet him ‘salaam,’” Roseboro said. “I salaam’ed him."

•

When asked to comment on Roseboro's arrest and the case investigation, MPD referred a request for comment to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A spokesman for the United States Attorney's Office declined to comment, citing the office's policy not to discuss pending cases.

When asked why prosecutors may be continuing to pursue Roseboro's case, Roseboro's attorney, Rudasill, said that the allegation of witness intimidation might make the case a higher priority for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Rudasill, though, said he thought the case boiled down to witness misidentification – a common flaw in criminal investigations. Both sides' witnesses were equally compelling on the stand, he said.

"It's very difficult for a reasonable juror to resolve that difference," Rudasill said.

But twelve more will be drafted early next year to do just that. It’s unclear what additional evidence prosecutors have against Roseboro that wasn’t presented at those trials.

•

Hung juries are a rarity in the criminal justice system, and few murder cases go to trial three times.

Rudasill said he thinks Roseboro's third trial will almost certainly be his last because legal precedent makes it difficult for prosecutors to continue past that point, he said.

"Basically, the Supreme Court has adopted a baseball standard," Rudasill said. "Three strikes, the government typically will honor that."

More recently, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in March that prosecutors could retry a defendant on multiple charges even if a jury had unanimously rejected the most serious charges, like first-degree murder. In Roseboro’s case, at least some jurors have always favored a guilty verdict on the most serious charge- first-degree murder while armed.

Roseboro says he doesn’t doubt prosecutors’ motives for pressing ahead with the case. He just thinks they are wrong.

“The lawyers are doing their job,” Roseboro’s attorney, James Rudasill Jr., said Thursday.

The new trial is scheduled to begin January 14 at 9:30 a.m. Roseboro remains in custody at D.C. jail.

Comment of the Day: From both sides, "The court should be ashamed," and "I have also lost faith in the dc court system"

Laura Amico — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:27:18 -0400

This double Comment of the Day comes from two readers, Raymond Cousin and Lockupthelocalviruses, in response to the mistrial declared in Raymond Roseboro's case.

Wrote Raymond Cousin:

This is just bizarre and it is not fair to Mr.Roseboro, the jury couldn't didn't prove that it was beyond a resonable doubt to find him guilty. Judge Cannon read the instructions 3 times to the jury offering additional instructions. The jury deliberated Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday,Thursday,Friday AND Monday and did not fins him guilty. I think this judge has a problem with Mr.Roseboro. if this jury couldn't find him guilty then another jury won't find him guilty. The evidence or the witnesses will NOT change! You have a white man killing a young black 17 year old boy that hasn't been charged or even in the custody of the law but yet we have a man here that a whole jury of 12 could not fins guilty. The court should be ashamed.

Responded Lockupthelocalviruses:

You sound in denial. What reason would somebody have against your cousin to say they saw him shooting this kid ? come on! Im very disappointed 3 people put him at the scene ... he conveniently had a meeting with a job counselor that was 2hrs late (weird) there is enough evidence. I think.. i wonder the makeup of the jury whats the demographic.... this is extremely sad to see... I have also lost faith in the dc court system after this ... You mean to tell me that someone can get shot at 4:30pm in the afternoon be seen with the gun shooting a person n the head in day light and get a mistrial ? straight up ridiculous ... this hurts my heart on so many level

Mistrial Declared in Raymond Roseboro Murder Case

Laura Amico — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:17:43 -0400

Judge Russell Canan declared a mistrial today in the case against Raymond Roseboro, after the jury notified the court for the third time that they were deadlocked.

Roseboro, 21, was charged with first-degree murder while armed in the shooting death of 16-year-old Prince Okorie.

The case went to the jury Tuesday afternoon and jurors spent the week deliberating. The jury sent notes to the court on Wednesday, Friday and Monday saying that they were deadlocked. The foreperson told the court Monday that eight jurors had voted to find Roseboro guilty, and four had voted against finding him guilty.

Okorie was gunned down at 4:30 in the afternoon on a residential street in Petworth in November 2010.

According to charging documents in the case, a witness to Okorie’s death “heard a gunshot, looked, and saw [Roseboro] armed with a gun in [his] hand and [Okorie] on the ground. As [the witness] turned away, it heard additional gunshots.”

On the stand at trial, Roseboro said he was home with his mother, cousin, and girlfriend waiting for an appointment with a jobs counselor the afternoon that Okorie was killed. His mother and cousin also testified that he was home. His jobs counselor was about two hours late for the scheduled appointment.

A status hearing for the case is set for April 6; a second trial is set for July 18.

Canan told jurors that the case could be continued for a second trial, or it could be resolved without another trial being held.

Roseboro Jury Due Back Monday for Further Deliberations

Laura Amico — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:45:24 -0400

The jury in the Raymond Roseboro case did not reach a verdict today, instead sending a second note to Judge Russell Canan that they were deadlocked.

The note came at about 2:30 in the afternoon; Canan instructed the jury to continue deliberating. When a verdict had not been reached at the end of the day he excused jurors until 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Jury Deliberations in Raymond Roseboro Case To Continue To Fourth Day

Laura Amico — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:54:57 -0400

The jury tasked with determining Raymond Roseboro's guilt in the shooting death of Prince Okorie is expected to enter its fourth day of deliberations Friday morning.

Jurors appeared frustrated as they entered the courtroom at the end of the day Thursday. Several sighed as they took their seats.

Roseboro is charged with first-degree murder while armed. His attorney, James Rudasill, said in closing arguments that Roseboro is innocent of all charges against him, including murder.

According to charging documents in the case, a witness to Okorie's death "heard a gunshot, looked, and saw [Roseboro] armed with a gun in [his] hand and [Okorie] on the ground. As [the witness] turned away, it heard additional gunshots."

On the stand at trial, Roseboro said he was home with his mother, cousin, and girlfriend waiting for an appointment with a jobs counselor the afternoon that Okorie was killed.

The jury sent a note to Judge Russell Canan Wednesday afternoon, telling him that they were deadlocked. Canan instructed them to continue deliberating. No notes were received Thursday.

Deadlocked Jury Told to Keep Deliberating in Raymond Roseboro Murder Case

Laura Amico — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:08:39 -0400

Jurors tasked with deciding Raymond Roseboro's guilt in the death of 16-year-old Prince Okorie told a judge this afternoon that they were deadlocked.

The judge, Russell Canan, instructed the jury to continue deliberating, a spokeswoman for DC Superior Court said.

Roseboro is charged with first-degree murder while armed. His attorney, James Rudasill, said in closing arguments that Roseboro is innocent of all charges against him, including murder.

Said MPD Chief Cathy Lanier at Roseboro’s arrest: “This homicide occurred on an afternoon on a residential street. Members of the community offered information and have been anxious to see this case come to a closure. Our communities have spoken - this city is not a place where you can get away with murder.”

On the stand at trial, Roseboro said he was home with his mother, cousin, and girlfriend waiting for an appointment with a jobs counselor the afternoon that Okorie was killed.

Jury deliberations began Tuesday afternoon. The note indicating that the jury was deadlocked was the first note jurors have sent to Canan in connection with their deliberations.

Jury Deliberations Begin in Prince Okorie Murder Case

Laura Amico — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:37:07 -0400

The jury charged with determining Raymond Roseboro's guilt in the death of 16-year-old Prince Okorie began deliberating Tuesday afternoon.

The morning was spent in closing arguments, with Prosecutor Steve Gripkey asking the jury to find Roseboro guilty of first-degree murder, and Roseboro's attorney, James Rudasill, telling them his client is innocent of all charges.

"This was a horrible crime; as human beings we are naturally repulsed by these types of images," Rudasill told the jury, motioning to Okorie's autopsy photos, which show bullet wounds in his head.

"But the only thing that would make this worse would be to convict the wrong person on this crime."

Roseboro took the stand Monday and testified that he did not shoot Okorie the afternoon of Nov. 30, 2010. In an accounting of how he had spent that day, Roseboro said he was at home that afternoon, at the same time Okorie was shot, waiting for an appointment with a jobs counselor.

Roseboro's mother, cousin, and girlfriend were with him, he said, and he met with the counselor that evening at home. The mother, cousin, and counselor testified on behalf of the defense in the case and said that Roseboro was indeed home that afternoon.

Gripkey said other witnesses refute that alibi.

Two witnesses for the prosecution, both young men who said they were friends of Okorie and Roseboro, said that the four were walking together to a shop when a gunshot rang out. One of the men's fathers testified that he saw the young men walking in the direction of the shop that afternoon, then, a few minutes later, heard sirens. Another prosecution witness, a nearby resident who witnessed the shooting while taking out the trash, identified the shooter as having "short dreads." Gripkey argued that Roseburo was the only one in that group who had that hairstyle at the time.

Those witnesses, said Gripkey, had reason to remember details of that day because for them, Nov. 30, 2010, was "not an ordinary day." Those witnesses, Gripkey said, were confronted with "all of that drama, all of that horror, [of Okorie's death] on Delafield."

In comparison, Nov. 30, was an ordinary day in the Roseboro household, Gripkey said, telling the jury he found it odd that Roseboro's mother, cousin and counselor remembered what Roseboro was wearing that day and where he was in the house.

For them, Gripkey said, "it was just another day. Just a normal day."

Opening arguments in the case were heard on March 14. The jury is expected back to continue deliberations Wednesday morning.

Raymond Roseboro Takes Stand to Proclaim Innocence

Laura Amico — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:27:26 -0400

With the autopsy photos of Prince Okorie's bullet-riddled face before him, Raymond Roseboro, on the stand Monday, told his jury that he did not fire the gun that killed the 16-year-old.

Dressed in a light blue button-down shirt, a blue and white stripped tie, and dark gray slacks, Roseboro spoke clearly and firmly through his one hour of testimony and cross-examination.

At his attorney's prodding, he outlined the way he spent the day Okorie was killed, beginning with waking up, getting dressed, then meeting his girlfriend at a corner store to buy a Metro card. Then Roseboro, 20, took the 70 bus down to DC Superior Court for a hearing, he said.

He told the jury that he had been arrested for illegally possessing ammunition. The ammunition wasn't his, he said. He explained that a friend of his was giving him a ride, he didn't know all the people in the car and that the ammunition belonged to someone else, but that it was stored next to where he was sitting. The case was dismissed in January, his attorney, James Rudasill, said.

Roseboro told the jury that when he was finished with his hearing, he went to Roosevelt High School, where he was in the 12th grade. He arrived in time for World History, a class he liked, he said.

When school finished for the day, at 3:15, he walked back to the corner store to meet his girlfriend, then together they walked back to his home on Fifth Street Northwest. They walked up Webster, to Kansas, to Buchanan, to Fifth, Roseboro said, arriving home before 4 p.m.

Roseboro said his mom was home and anxious that he be home, too, because a jobs counselor had an appointment with him at their house at 4 o'clock that afternoon. Because of that appointment, once he arrived home he stayed there until after the counselor had left, about 6:30 or so that evening.

Roseboro's mother and his cousin, who was at the house that day, testified Monday that Roseboro was home with his girlfriend the afternoon of Nov. 30.

The father of one of Okorie's friends testified last week that he saw Roseboro with his son, Okorie, and another young man just minutes before he heard the gunshots the afternoon of Nov. 30. He later learned that those gunshots, fired at 8th St and Delafield Pl Northwest, had killed Okorie.

Roseboro also testified about his relationships with Okorie and the two other young men who said they were present when Okorie was shot. Roseboro said he didn't know Okorie well, and that he didn't know the others at all.

Okorie, at 16, was four years younger than himself, Roseboro said.

"He was Muslim and I'm a Muslim so when I see him I greet him 'salaam,'" Roseboro said. The afternoon that Okorie was killed, Roseboro said that while walking home he saw Okorie sitting on a porch with nine or ten young men about the same age as Okorie. He didn't see anyone he recognized, except Okorie.

"I salaam'ed him," Roseboro said.

Defense Begins Fight Against Raymond Roseboro's Murder Charge

Laura Amico — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:15:23 -0400

In opening statements, Raymond Roseboro's defense attorney argued that his client could not have killed 16-year-old Prince Okorie because he was scheduled to meet with a career councilor at the same time Okorie was shot to death in Petworth.

But that counselor testified today that he was running late that day and did not meet with Roseboro until later in the evening.

Okorie was killed around 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2010. Prosecutor Steven Gripkey contends Roseboro shot Okorie in the back of the head and in the face at close range while the two walked to a nearby store with two other friends.

One witness for the prosecution, a young man who said he was a friend of Okorie's and an associate of Roseboro's, said he, Okorie, Roseboro, and another friend were walking together to a shop when he heard a gunshot ring out. In one movement he started running from the scene and saw Okorie collapse, he told the court.

The young man said he didn't see who shot Okorie and that he wasn't aware of any arguments in the group.

"We was laughing," he said.

Lyn Dyson, the career counselor, testified that he was scheduled to meet with Roseboro at 4:30 p.m. the day Okorie was killed, but that due to meetings he was late and probably met with Roseboro at about 6 or 6:15 p.m.

He said when he saw Roseboro that night he appeared "cool, chilled out, matter of fact."

The jury is expected back Monday morning. Judge Russell Canan told jurors that the case could be sent to them that same day.

Witnesses in Prince Okorie's Shooting Death Take Stand in Raymond Roseboro Trial

Stephanie Czekalinski — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:32:28 -0400

Two people who witnessed Prince Okorie's shooting death in Petworth testified Wednesday in the murder case against Raymond Roseboro, who is charged with first-degree murder while armed as well as felony murder in connection with Okorie’s death.

The trial began Wednesday morning with opening statements.

Okorie died on the sidewalk Nov. 30, 2010 near the corner of 8th Street and Delafield Pl. Northwest after being shot at about 4:30 pm.

Stephen Gripkey, the prosecutor in the case, contends Roseboro shot Okorie in the back of the head and in the face at close range while the two walked to a nearby store with two other friends on the afternoon of November 30.

But Roseboro’s attorney, James Rudasill, argues that Roseboro could not have shot Okorie, who he knew, because he was home being interviewed for a job training program.

The first witness testified that he saw four young African American men walking down the street the day of the shooting. As the witness, who lives in the area, was walking into the middle of 8th Street to pick up some trash, when he heard a loud "pow." He thought it was a firecracker.

He looked back towards the group of young men and saw one man standing over pointing a gun at another, who was lying on the sidewalk.

The witness heard at least two more shots. He said he could not see the shooter’s face, and couldn’t identify the man he saw standing over Okorie.

The second witness to testify Wednesday afternoon said Okorie and Roseboro were both friends from school. He was walking with Okorie and Roseboro and another friend to the store when Okorie was shot, he said.

Although he did not see the shots fired, the witness said he was sure that Roseboro was the shooter.

He had been walking next to Roseboro when he looked away from the group then heard a gunshot. When he looked back, Okorie was on the ground and Roseboro was standing at his feetholding a gun and showing a “mean face,” the witness said.

As the witness ran from the scene he heard three or four more shots.

The witnesses contradicted each other in their description of the shooter’s clothes. The first witness said the shooter was wearing blue. The second witness said Roseboro was wearing a red and white jacket.

Neither witness said there were any signs of animosity between members of the group as they walked to the store. The second witness said there had been no argument prior to the shooting and that he doesn’t know of any reason Roseboro might have to kill Okorie.

The trial is expected to resume Thursday at 10 a.m.

Jury Will Not Hear Motive in Murder Trial Connected to Neil Godleski Case

Stephanie Czekalinski — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:29:54 -0400

This morning a jury heard opening arguments in the trial of Raymond Roseboro, the 21-year-old accused of shooting 16-year-old Prince Okorie in November 2010.

Roseboro is accused of first-degree murder while armed as well as felony murder in connection with Okorie’s death.

Stephen Gripkey, the prosecutor in the case, said that Roseboro invited Okorie, who he knew, to walk with him to a nearby store on the afternoon of November 30. Two other friends walked with them. En route, Gripkey said, Roseboro shot Okorie in the back of the head and the face at close range.

No argument, fight or altercation proceeded the shooting, Gripkey said.

Okorie died on the sidewalk near the corner of 8th Street NW and Delafield Pl. NW in Petworth where he was shot about 4:30 pm.

The gun was never recovered. No fingerprints were found on the shell casing found at the scene.

But Roseboro's attorney, James Rudasill, argued that could not have been the shooter.

By 4:20 p.m. Roseboro was being interviewed for a job training program at his home, said Rudasill, adding that Roseboro's mother, girlfriend and interviewer will testify, he said.

At a preliminary hearing in Dec. 2010, MPD Homicide Detective Darin March said investigators believe Okorie was killed because of rumors that he was cooperating with the government’s investigation into the shooting death of Catholic University student Neil Godleski.

Eric Foreman, a close friend of Roseboro’s, is charged in the Godleski case.

In opening statement, Gripkey told the jury that they would not hear testimony regarding a motive for the killing.