District Man Indicted for Premeditated Double Murder Inside Home in Southeast, D.C.

            WASHINGTON – James P. Jones, 42, of Washington, D.C., was charged by indictment today, for the February 2023 murders of David Wright and Nathaniel Howard, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            The indictment charges Jones with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder while armed committed with aggravating circumstances, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

            According to the government’s evidence, in the early afternoon on February 26, 2023, Jones shot Howard three times and Wright at least six times inside Howard’s home in Southeast, Washington, D.C., where Jones had been residing.  Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.  Jones, who at the time was on supervised release and GPS monitoring related to previous felony convictions in Washington, D.C., was located and arrested within approximately one hour of the murders. A firearm was recovered from his person and has been ballistically linked to the murders. Jones has been detained pending trial since his arrest.

            This case is being investigated by members of MPD’s Homicide Branch.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles R. Jones.

            An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.