District Man Pleads Guilty To Second-Degree Murder While Armed In Southeast Washington Shooting-Defendant Shot Victims Inside Car In Barry Farm Area-

     WASHINGTON – Donald Dubose, 25, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a charge of second-degree murder while armed stemming from a fatal shooting that took place in 2012 in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     Dubose pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He is to be sentenced on Feb. 20, 2015, by the Honorable Jennifer Anderson.  The plea, which is contingent on the Court’s approval, calls for a sentence between 15 and 17 years of incarceration.

     According to the government’s evidence, on May 12, 2012, at approximately 5:35 a.m., the victim, Michael Smith, 34, and another man left Northwest Washington in a gray Mercedes Benz.  They headed towards the Barry Farm community in Southeast Washington. The other man drove while Mr. Smith sat in the front passenger seat.  Dubose followed behind them in a black Ford Fusion with the intention of causing physical harm and injury to Mr. Smith and the other man in the Mercedes Benz.  At least two of Dubose’s associates were in the car with him. 

     When they reached Stevens Road SE, in Barry Farm, the other man pulled the Mercedes to the side of the road in the 1100 block of Stevens Road.  Dubose stopped the Ford Fusion beside the Mercedes, on the driver’s side of the Mercedes. The individuals in the Ford Fusion shot at Mr. Smith and the other man with multiple guns.  Mr. Smith was shot twice in the head and died shortly thereafter.  The other man survived the gunfire, but suffered a gunshot wound to his arm.  Though injured with a gunshot wound, he attempted to drive the Mercedes away.  He crashed the Mercedes into the side of a nearby house across the street.  Dubose and the shooters, meanwhile, fled from the shooting in the Ford Fusion, which defendant drove.

     In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of the detectives of the Criminal Investigations Division Homicide Branch, crime scene officers, and the Seventh Police District of the Metropolitan Police Department.  He also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Marcia Rinker, M. Laverne Forrest, Tanya Via and Michael Hailey of the Victim/Witness Assistance Unit; former Paralegal Specialists Fern Rhedrick and Marian Russell; Paralegal Specialist Vanessa Trent-Valentine; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Brittin; and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Dillon.  He also praised the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana L. Fulton, who investigated, indicted, and prosecuted the case.