District Man Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder While Armed in December 2015 Killing in Northeast Washington

            WASHINGTON – Kimberly N. Thompson, 61, of Woodbridge, Va., has been found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder and related firearms charges for killing a man in broad daylight in December 2015 in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The verdict, returned late March 21, 2019, followed a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Milton C. Lee scheduled sentencing for June 7, 2019. Thompson faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 30 years.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Dec. 10, 2015, at about 1:30 p.m., Thompson drove his Mercedes to the 1900 block of Bennett Place NE and confronted the victim, Charles Anthony Mayo, who was sitting outside. Within seconds, Thompson fired his gun at Mr. Mayo eight times, hitting him with three bullets. Mr. Mayo managed to get away and into a nearby alley.

            Shortly after the shooting, the Metropolitan Police Department arrived at the scene. They found Mr. Mayo and asked him if he knew who his attacker was.  He nodded yes.  When asked who it was, he responded with only, “I can’t breathe.”  Mr. Mayo, 53, slipped out of consciousness and was never able to identify his murderer.  He died a week later in the hospital.

            Two days after the murder, Thompson was stopped by police in his Mercedes and the car was seized.  A subsequent search of the car revealed a handgun secreted deep inside the trunk that was later determined to be the handgun that fired two cartridge casings that were recovered at the crime scene. Thompson was arrested in January 2016 and has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences and the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST).

            They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Silvia Gonzalez Roman, Ahmed Baset, Monica Trigoso, Chrisellen Kolb and John Mannarino; Michael Ambrosino, Special Counsel for DNA and Forensic Evidence Litigation; Stephen R. Prest, Special Counsel for Discovery Policy and Litigation;  Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Sharon Newman; Lead Paralegal Specialist Meridith McGarrity; Paralegal Specialists Tameka Garcia and Alesha Matthews; former Paralegal Specialist Sandra Lane; Supervisory Victim/Witness Services Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington; Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker; Victim/Witness Security Specialist Lesley Slade; Supervisory Witness Security Specialist M. LaVerne Perry; Supervisory Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling, and Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Macey and Christian Natiello, who investigated and prosecuted the case.