District Man Pleads Guilty to Shooting in Southeast Washington That Wounded 7-Year-Old Girl

            WASHINGTON – Michael Wiggins, 27, of Washington, D.C., has pled guilty to charges in a shooting last spring that injured a 7-year-old bystander, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Wiggins pled guilty on Aug. 19, 2016, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of aggravated assault while armed and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The plea, which is contingent upon the Court’s approval, calls for a seven-year prison term. The Honorable Zoe Bush scheduled sentencing for Sept. 15, 2016.

            In his plea, Wiggins admitted that on April 8, 2016, at about 9:30 p.m., he was in the 2900 block of Knox Place SE, and had been fighting with his cousin. As his cousin was leaving Knox Place by car, Wiggins fired four shots at the vehicle, shattering its back windshield. Meanwhile, the victim, a 7-year-old girl, was arriving home with her family after an outing to Chuck E. Cheese. One of the shots hit her in the chest and she fell to the ground. The victim was immediately transported to Children’s National Medical Center and is expected to make a full recovery. MPD officers were swift to identify Wiggins as the shooter and he was arrested on April 11, 2016. Wiggins admitted that he was shooting at his cousin that night.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Chief Lanier commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the work of those handling the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Antoinette Sakamsa, Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Allen, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Barr, who is prosecuting the matter.