Co-Defendants Plead Guilty in two Carjackings from December 2024 and January 2025

            WASHINGTON – Erick Alvarenga, 19, and Malik Kearney, 20, both of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty today to carjacking and firearms offenses stemming from two separate carjackings in December 2024 and January 2025, in Northeast Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Both defendants pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to two counts of carjacking and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The Honorable Judge Andrea Hertzfeld scheduled a sentencing hearing for August 29, 2025. 

            According to the proffer of facts, on December 28, 2024, around 4:45 a.m., the first victim was in a Jeep SUV that was parked in the 6100 block of Eastern Avenue, Northeast, when the defendants approached, one of whom was armed with a black handgun. Alvarenga and Kearney told the victim to get out of the car and give them the keys. The victim complied with the demand and exited the vehicle. The defendants then drove away from the scene. 

            The second offense occurred days later, on January 3, 2025, around 3:00 p.m. when the second victim was at a gas station in the 4200 block of Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, Northeast. As the victim finished putting gas in his Dodge sedan, Alvarenga used the Jeep which had been stolen on December 28, 2024, to block in the second victim’s car. Kearney then approached the second victim with a handgun. The victim was ordered out of his car. Kearney got behind the wheel of the Dodge, and both vehicles fled in the same direction.

            Alvarenga and Kearney were arrested around 9:00 p.m. after the second victim’s Dodge had been seen traveling on the interstate before coming to a stop in the 6400 block of Eastern Avenue. Both defendants fled into the basement of a nearby home where they were detained by the police. Officers recovered two firearms from the location where the defendants were detained. One of the weapons had the serial number removed and the other was a PMF ghost gun.

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Randle Wilson and Amanda Hoover.