WASHINGTON - A 30-year-old Northwest District of Columbia man, Marlon K. Blaize, has been sentenced to 38 years of incarceration after having been found guilty by a Superior Court jury in the Fall of 2007 of causing the death Tarran S. Miller, who was struck by a car while running from Blaize, who had fired a revolver at him, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.

Blaize received his sentence yesterday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia before the Honorable Erik Christian. Previously, Blaize, of the 1300 block of Girard Street, NW, was found guilty by a Superior Court jury on September 28, 2007, of Voluntary Manslaughter while Armed, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, two counts of Possession of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence, and Carrying a Pistol without a License.

The government's evidence at trial established that on or about August 12, 2006, at approximately midnight, at the location of 14th and Fairmont Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. (PSA 304), the defendant, Marlon K. Blaize, got into a verbal altercation with the decedent, Tarran S. Miller. Eyewitnesses indicated that Blaize brandished a large, silver revolver and pointed it at Mr. Miller's head and body. Blaize then fired the weapon into the air and at an elevated angle in the direction of Mr. Miller, causing Mr. Miller to fear for his life and run into the street, where he was struck by a hit and run vehicle. No gun shots from Blaize's gun struck Mr. Miller or any other person, though at least one stray shot did penetrate a nearby apartment, causing property damage. Mr. Miller was transported from the scene of the vehicular impact to Washington Hospital Center where he was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. Mr. Miller died from his injuries on August 18, 2006, at approximately 8:05 a.m. His body was then transported to the D.C. Medical Examiner's Office where an autopsy was performed by Sarah Colvin, M.D., who determined that the cause of death was blunt impact head, torso and extremity trauma. Dr. Colvin ruled the manner of death a homicide.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor commended several officers of the Metropolitan Police Department, including Detective Thomas Webb, Detective Konstantinos "Gus" Giannakoulias, Detective Michael Pavero, Officers Ana Mercado, Erica Melton, James Culp, Vincent Wright, Theresa Wingo, Stacy Roundtree, Eric Adgerson, Mobile Crime Lab Officers Israel Ruiz, Keith Slaughter, James Savage, Dwayne Mitchell, David Murray, Alfred Holmes, Grant Greenwalt, Tina Ramadhan, Charles Graham, Latent Fingerprint Examiners Mary Jones and Diane Mazyck, Firearms Examination Section Officer Luciano Morales, and Deputy Medical Examiner Sarah Colvin, M.D. Lastly, he thanked Paralegals Ethel Noble and Nicole Tate, Legal Assistant Mary Doster, and Litigation Services Technician Ron Royal, who assisted with case preparation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Bach, who initiated the investigation; and, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Feitel, who investigated and tried the case.