5 gang members convicted of fatally shooting 10-year-old girl during 'brazen' rampage
06/14/2023 1:45 pm PDT
WASHINGTON (TCD) -- A jury has convicted five men of murder and a sixth man on related charges for opening fire at an apartment complex in 2018 and killing a 10-year-old girl.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced Isaiah Murchison, Darrise Jeffers, Gregory Taylor, Qujuan Thomas, and Quentin Michals were found guilty in Superior Court of first-degree murder while armed, conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, participation in criminal street gang, and several other counts of assault to kill while armed. A jury found Marquell Cobbs guilty of conspiracy to commit a crime of violence.
According to the statement, on July 16, 2018, Murchison, Taylor, Thomas, and two others drove to an apartment complex in the Clay Terrace neighborhood and began shooting inside a courtyard. Makiyah Wilson was struck by the gunfire while sitting in front of her house.
Co-defendants Michals and Jeffers reportedly obtained the weapons used in the shooting and the car they drove to get there.
The men are all part of the "Wellington Park crew."
Witnesses, however, were not "willing to provide information regarding the identity of the shooters."
Following the shooting, D.C. Metropolitan Police offered up to $25,000 as a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for killing Makiyah.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said the men "indiscriminately fired over 50 shots at the residents because of a petty social media feud they had with individuals who associated with that community."
Graves added, "Their rampage left multiple people shot and a 10-year-old child dead. Today’s verdicts demonstrate that we will hold accountable both the shooters in these brazen attacks and the people who help them."
The men will be sentenced in October.
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