80 Year Prison Term for Man Convicted in Double Homicide in Southeast Washington

            WASHINGTON – Beysean Jones, 29, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 80 years in prison for the July 2022 deadly shooting of Ronald Brown, 19, and Tijuan Wilson, 41, in Southeast Washington, D.C. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            A Superior Court jury found Jones guilty of two counts of first-degree murder while armed, one count of assault with intent to kill, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and two counts of possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a crime on June 26, 2024, before the Honorable Michael O’Keefe.

            According to the evidence presented during trial, on July 22, 2022, Beysean Jones and Ronald Brown argued at the SC Discount Tobacco and Grocery store on South Capitol St. SW. Shortly thereafter, shots fired from Brown’s vehicle struck Jones’ vehicle and Jones returned fire in the 4000 block of Livingston Rd. SE. A civilian witness who associated with Jones in the drug trade testified about texts he received from Jones about the shooting on the 22^nd and Jones’ actions in preparing to retaliate against Brown, including putting a $30,000 bounty on the person who shot him.

            Just five days later, surveillance video captured a vehicle follow Ronald Brown’s vehicle into a residential parking lot surrounded by apartments in the 4300 block of 4^th St. SE. That vehicle backed into a parking space several spaces down from Brown’s vehicle and at least two shooters opened fire with both .40 caliber and rifle rounds, firing over 60 rounds in the direction of Brown. This barrage of fire killed Tijuan Wilson and badly injured his partner of over 18 years, though luckily their children, who were outside at the time, were unharmed. Others in the parking lot returned fire. Multiple vehicles and residential buildings were damaged by gunfire.

            Casings left behind on July 27^th near the suspect vehicle were ballistically linked to the casings Jones fired at Brown on July 22^nd.

            The convictions would not have been possible without the assistance of the extraordinary efforts of Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Squad, led by Detective Konstantinos “Gus” Giannakoulias, and the excellent work of personnel from the U.S. Attorney’s Office including, Lead Paralegal Specialist Meridith McGarrity, Paralegal Specialist LaShone Samuels, Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Tasha Harris, Victim/Witness Program Specialist Latrice Washington-Williams, Investigative Analyst Zach McMenamin, Supervisory IT Specialist Leif Hickling, Litigation Technology Specialist Sigourney Jackson, Witness Security Specialist Marlon Hernandez, Witness Security Specialist Robert Cephas, Supervisory Victim Witness Service Coordinator Katina Adams, Victim Witness Service Coordinator Shanika McCullough, Homicide Interns Tasha Dambacher and Karen Padilla, and former Homicide Intern Xander de los Reyes.

            It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea Antonelli and Zach Horton of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.