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Press Release
Press Release
WASHINGTON – Deandre Shaheed, 19, was sentenced today to 20 years in prison after earlier pleading guilty to second-degree murder while armed in the slaying of a man who was on his way home from work, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Shaheed, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty in July 2014 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Jennifer Anderson. Upon completion of his prison term, Shaheed will be placed on five years of supervised release.
Two other men also pled guilty in July 2014 to charges in the case. Floyd Neal, 21, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty to one count of armed robbery and one count of carrying a dangerous weapon. Lafeyette Robinson, 21, also of Washington, D.C., pled guilty to one count of armed robbery. Neal and Robinson are to be sentenced Oct. 17, 2014.
According to the government’s evidence, on March 14, 2013, Shaheed, Neal, and Robinson decided to rob someone and armed themselves with a sawed-off shotgun. Robinson gave the shotgun to Shaheed. The group walked to the Deanwood Metro station in Northeast Washington, looking for a target.
Once there, they saw the victim, Akinwole Olu Williams, leaving the subway station. Mr. Williams, 31, who had completed his credits at Catholic University and was awaiting the formal graduation ceremony, was enroute home after work and after earlier attending a job fair. He was wearing a business suit and carrying two bags, one of which contained his job fair materials.
The group followed Mr. Williams and confronted him at about 11:40 p.m. in the 1000 block of 44th Street NE. Shaheed took the sawed off shotgun and pointed it at Mr. Williams, demanding his property. Mr. Williams resisted, and the two men wrestled over the shotgun in the street. Shaheed regained control of the weapon, pointed it at Mr. Williams, and shot him. The shot went through Mr. Williams’s job fair folder, through his hand, through his chest, and into his heart. He was taken to a hospital, but lifesaving efforts failed, and he died the following day.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of those who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker; Paralegal Specialists Alesha Matthews Yette, Debra Joyner, and Kendra Johnson; Intelligence Analyst Zachary McMenamin, and Litigation Services Specialist Thomas R. Royal. Finally, he expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deborah Sines and Michelle Bradford, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Reagan Taylor, who prosecuted the case.
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