District Man Sentenced To 24 Years In Prison For 2012 Murder In Northeast Washington-Defendant Also Shot At Second Victim In The Attack-

     WASHINGTON – Sean Carter, 22, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 24 years in prison on charges of second-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill stemming from a shooting in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

     Carter pled guilty in January 2013 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Robert E. Morin. Upon completion of his prison term, Carter will be placed on eight years of supervised release.

     According to the government’s evidence, on Aug. 23, 2012, at approximately 10:15 p.m., Carter saw Bidley Warren, 22, walking with a teenager on Rhode Island Avenue NE.  Carter recognized both of them and went to his nearby home, where he retrieved a gun. Then he hurried toward them in the 1000 block of Rhode Island Avenue. 

     When Mr. Warren and the teenager saw Carter approaching with the gun, they ran away from him. Carter chased after them and began shooting. Mr. Warren tripped and fell, and the teenager stopped to check on him. Carter, meanwhile, shot again at the teenager, nearly striking him in the head. Due to the assault with gunfire, the teenager was forced to leave Mr. Warren behind and he ran away.  Carter then stood over Mr. Warren and shot Mr. Warren in the head.  Mr. Warren died soon afterward from the gunshot wound to his head.

     After the murder, Carter fled to Atlanta.  He was apprehended there by the U.S. Marshals Service on Oct. 2, 2012.  The next day, Carter admitted to two detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) that he chased and shot at Mr. Warren and the teenager, and that he then shot Mr. Warren in the head while Mr. Warren was on the ground.  Carter claimed that he had been involved in fights with the teenager and Mr. Warren on previous occasions.  According to the government’s evidence, Mr. Warren and the teenager had no interaction with Carter the night of the murder.  Neither of the victims saw Carter approach them with the gun until it was too late.  He ran after them from behind and chased them down the street with gunfire.

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of the detectives of MPD’s Criminal Investigations Division and the officers of MPD’s Fifth District. He also acknowledged the efforts of the Atlanta Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.  He also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Victim Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker, Witness Security Specialist Tanya Via and Paralegal Specialist Marian Russell.  Finally, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Fulton of the Homicide Section, who prosecuted the case.