Featured Archives - D.C. Witness

Data Shows Five Mass Shootings in DC in 2024

Details D.C. Witness recorded a total of five mass shootings in 2024, with 23 total victims. Of those victims, four were homicide victims and 19 were non-fatal shootings victims. The first... Read More

February Homicide Statistics Show One Arrest And an Officer-Involved Shooting

By Brigette Bagley - March 10, 2025
Daily Stories | Data | Featured | Homicides |

Details According to D.C. Witness data, as of March 5, there were seven homicide incidents and nine homicide victims in the District in February. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has announced... Read More

January Homicide Statistics Show Little Change from 2024 to 2025

Details According to D.C. Witness data, as of Feb. 6, there were eight homicide incidents and 10 homicide victims in the District in January. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has announced... Read More

DC Courts Face Crisis Waiting For Judicial Appointments, Says Chief Judge and Attorneys

Details As the new Trump administration takes shape, the District continues to wait anxiously for Congressional action to fill the longstanding void of Superior Court judges. Meanwhile, in a rare moment... Read More

Is the D.C. Jury Pool Representative?

By Lucy Orgolini [former] - December 21, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Featured | Suspects |

Details D.C. Witness discovered in the Tony Mcclam v. United States jury bias case, a convoluted statistical section that raises a core question: Is the Superior Court calling a racially representative... Read More

Court’s Security Systems Edge Closer to Failure

By Lucy Orgolini [former] - December 19, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Featured | Uncategorized |

Details The District of Columbia Courts face a mounting security crisis as its two-decade-old surveillance and fire alarm systems edges closer to complete failure, according to court documents. Tucked deep in... Read More

Jury Finds Defendant Guilty of First-Degree Murder–Again

Details A jury in the retrial of a murder defendant found him guilty for a second time on Dec. 4 before DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun. Mark Beasley, 52, was charged... Read More

‘I Don’t Want to Lose My Son. I Would Die if I Did,’ Says Dad of Assault and Strangulation in Longstanding Family Dispute

Details DC Superior Court Judge Erik Christian sentenced an intellectually challenged defendant to 84 months of suspended time for a strangulation offense in a hearing on Dec. 3. The case pitted... Read More

Murder Defendant’s Incompetency Claim Fails to Overturn Guilty Plea

Details DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun rejected Dec. 4 a defendant’s motion to withdraw a guilty plea due to mental incompetence. Raymond Avent, 24, is charged with first-degree murder while... Read More

Judge Denies Dismissal Over Missed Deadline in a Stabbing

Details A motion to dismiss a stabbing case for a missed deadline was denied by DC Superior Court Judge Erik Christian on Dec. 3, as he plans to continue to trial... Read More

D.C. Witness Investigation Finds Attorneys for The Indigent Beset by What the Court Calls, ‘An Exceptional Circumstance’

By Jeff Levine , Jiazu Zhang , Lucy Orgolini [former], LaTrina Antoine - November 6, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Featured | Suspects |

Details Louis Wesson, 28, has found himself in the DC Superior Court’s presentment hearings before and it has not been a happy experience. His latest encounter with the criminal justice system... Read More

D.C. Witness Investigation Finds Attorneys For The Indigent Face Caseload That’s ‘Started to Explode’

By Jeff Levine , Jiazu Zhang , Lucy Orgolini [former], LaTrina Antoine - November 4, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Featured | Suspects |

Details Room “C 10” in the DC Superior Court building is often at its busiest on Monday afternoons as defendants come out of the weekend “lock up” for their initial “presentment”... Read More