District Man Sentenced to 32 Years in Prison for the Murder of a Man Outside a Convenience Store in Northeast Washington

           WASHINGTON – Kenneth Adams, 21, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 32 years in prison stemming from a killing of a man that took place outside of a convenience store in 2016 in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           Adams was found guilty of first-degree murder while armed and a weapons offense related to the murder, as well as a robbery charge involving an earlier incident following a 4-week trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Judith Bartnoff. Following his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release.

           According to the government’s evidence, on the night of February 15, 2016, Adams and two others robbed a woman near the intersection of 21^st and Maryland NE and threatened that her brother would be next. The woman told her brother what happened, and he confronted Adams and the others.

           On February 19, 2016, at approximately 9:40 p.m., Adams armed with a .40-caliber revolver, walked a short distance from 21^st Street and Maryland Avenue NE to the convenience store at 19^th Street and Benning Road NE. He was backed by several others from the neighborhood. He walked to the center of the parking lot, raised his left arm, and pointed his firearm at the woman’s brother, firing multiple times. The man was in a group that included Dante Kinard. The gunfire did not hit the intended target, but did hit Mr. Kinard, 21, who was standing in front of the store at the time. He was shot in the back and right thigh and died a short time later.

           Adams was arrested on June 15, 2016, and has been in custody ever since.

           In announcing the verdicts, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by U.S. Marshal Service, U.S. Park Police, the FBI Washington Field Office, and the ATF. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Donovan, Chrisellen Kolb, Daniel Lenerz, John Mannarino, David Misler, and Rizwan Qureshi; Paralegal Specialists Debra Joyner, Alesha Matthews, Lornce Applewhite, Meridith McGarrity, and Sharon Newman; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Litigation Technology Specialists Leif Hickling, Anisha Bhatia, and Thomas “Ron” Royal; Victim/Witness Advocates Diana Lim and Jennifer Allen; Victim/Witness Security Specialists Lesley Slade and M. LaVerne Perry, and Intern Tia Kerkhof.

           Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ahmed Baset and Monica Trigoso, who investigated and prosecuted the case.