District Man Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder While Armed In 2012 Shooting In Southeast Washington-Defendant Shot Victim After Arguing With Him Earlier On Street-

     WASHINGTON – David Shepherd, 50, of Washington, D.C., was found  guilty by a jury today of first-degree murder while armed in the June 2012 killing of a man in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     The verdict followed a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The jury also found Shepherd guilty of charges of fleeing police, destruction of property, and related firearms offenses. The Honorable Russell F. Canan scheduled sentencing for Oct. 3, 2014.

     According to the government’s evidence, in the early morning hours of June 3, 2012, Shepherd and the victim, Henry Miller, 32, encountered one another while at a house in the 1100 block of Chicago Street SE. Shepherd was outside and in a conversation with mutual friends of the two men when Mr. Miller approached and said “Excuse me,” to Shepherd and tried to reach for a cigarette inside the friends’ vehicle. Shepherd responded aggressively and began swearing and raising his voice. A verbal argument ensued, in which Shepherd threatened Mr. Miller. Others stepped in to defuse the situation, and the argument ended when Shepherd indicated he was leaving and walked toward his nearby truck.

     Shepherd, however, then returned to the scene, walked up to Mr. Miller, within arm’s reach, and shot him in the face with a revolver. He then got into his truck and fled the scene. 

     The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) quickly responded to the shooting and got a description of Shepherd and his truck. Officers in the area observed him driving and attempted to make a traffic stop, but Shepherd then engaged the police in a high-speed chase throughout the city, plowing through a gate a Gallaudet University, and then crashed his truck on Brentwood Parkway NE. MPD officers then apprehended Shepherd and recovered the murder weapon in his vehicle. 

     In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of those who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Kwasi Fields and Kendra Johnson; former Paralegal Specialist Marian Russell; Information Technology Specialist Jeanie Latimore Brown; and Interns Megan Benevento and Kimberly Knipe. Finally, he praised the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Worm, who prosecuted the case.