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By Adriana Marroquin
– 20 June 2024
Court | Everyday stories | Murder cases | Young people | Suspects | Victims |
At a hearing for the defendant on June 18, DC Superior Court Judge Kendra Briggs denied a juvenile’s request to be transferred to a Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) home.
The juvenile, a 13-year-old girl, is one of three children, ages 12 and 13, charged with first-degree murder, assault and conspiracy for their alleged involvement in the fatal beating of 64-year-old Reggie Brown on October 17, 2023, in the 6200 block of Georgia Avenue, NW.
According to a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective, Brown was physically disabled and had no connection to the teenagers.
Howard Margulies, the youth’s defense attorney, asked Judge Briggs to reduce the youth’s detention status from DYRS to placement in a foster home, arguing that she would thrive there.
Prosecutors, however, denied the request, saying that the teenager had “run away from home for a long time,” skipped school, and had not told her parents where she was. She also “chose not to be where she was supposed to be.” According to prosecutors, the girl’s parents had to file several missing persons reports with the MPD last year.
Prosecutors insisted that the facts of the case proved that the teen was not actively supervised by her parents. During the incident, the teen was out with her co-defendants at odd hours on a school day.
“There is another story to tell,” Margulies said, stating that her disappearance was due to a lack of communication between her parents.
“(She) needs the structure of a homeless shelter,” he said, stressing that it would help her prove she can function in the community.
The prosecution reminded the judge that at the time of her arrest, the girl was unsupervised at home with two other juveniles, one of whom was a co-defendant, when someone broke in and shot her friend.
Despite Margulies’ arguments, Judge Briggs denied the motion on the grounds that “detention was necessary” to ensure the safety of the community and its delivery to court.
The parties are scheduled to meet again with all three co-defendants on July 12.
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