District Man Pleads Guilty to 2012 Armed Rape of Howard University Student, Sentenced to 48 Years in Prison

            WASHINGTON – Demarco Myles, 24, formerly of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to charges stemming from the armed rape of a Howard University student at a dormitory in November 2012, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Myles pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to felony counts of first-degree sexual abuse while armed, burglary while armed, kidnapping while armed, and two misdemeanor counts of assault and second-degree theft. The plea agreement, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for an agreed-upon sentence of 48 years in prison. After accepting the plea, the Honorable Ronna L. Beck sentenced Myles accordingly. Once released from prison, Myles will be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life.  He will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. 

            The sentence imposed today will run concurrently with a 40-year prison term that Myles now is serving for a second attack that he committed in October 2012 in Northeast Washington.

            According to the government’s evidence, in the early afternoon of Nov. 2, 2012, Myles snuck into the Bethune Annex – a women’s dormitory – in the 2200 block of Fourth Street NW, on the Howard University campus.  Once inside, he went from room to room until he found the victim alone in her dorm room.  While brandishing a very distinctive looking knife, Myles raped her.  During the rape, when the victim was pleading with him to stop and saying that she did not even know who Myles was, Myles grabbed a piece of paper, wrote “Marco” and a cell phone number on it, and thrust it in her face, saying, “Now you know me, [expletive]!”  Following the rape, Myles tried to scratch out the phone number, but left the piece of paper behind.

            When the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrived moments later in response to a 911 call, they were able to decipher the phone number that had been written down.  Using subscriber information concerning that number, and other information they were able to develop, Myles was arrested later that night at his home, where the distinctive knife he had used during the attack was recovered.  He has been imprisoned ever since.

            One week earlier, on Oct. 26, 2012, and almost to the minute, Myles had broken into the apartment of another woman who lived in the Rhode Island Row Apartments across from the Rhode Island Avenue Metro stop in Northeast Washington.  He attempted to sexually assault that woman, as well, but she fled into a walk-in closet and tried to prevent Myles from getting to her.  Myles overpowered the woman, however, and, in a rage, stabbed her more than 20 times, leaving her for dead.  Although Myles later told police that he thought he had killed that woman, she somehow survived and was able to call 911 to report the attack.  For the next week, MPD conducted a manhunt, trying to find the assailant.  It was not until Myles struck again – in the Howard University attack – that Myles was arrested.

            Myles pled guilty in January 2015 to a total of 10 charges stemming from the attack at the Rhode Island Row Apartments. He was sentenced in June 2015 to a 40-year prison term.

            In announcing today’s plea, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of members of MPD’s Sexual Assault Unit, Criminal Investigations Unit, and Fifth District, who investigated the cases. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the cases from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Jason Manuel, D’Yvonne Key, Joyce Arthur, and Brenda Williams; Victim/Witness Advocates Melissa Milam and Elsa Maltese; La June Thames and Katina Adams-Washington, also of the Victim/Witness Assistance Unit; Information Technology Specialist Jeanie Latimore-Brown; Intelligence Specialist Sharon Johnson, and Criminal Investigators Steve Cohen and Durand Odom. They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Bates, Elizabeth Danello, Colleen Kennedy, Chrisellen Kolb, Jodi Lazarus, and Elizabeth Trosman for assistance on legal issues. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrea Hertzfeld, John L. Hill, Nicholas G. Miranda and Peter V. Taylor, who investigated and prosecuted this case.