District Men Sentenced to Prison Terms For 2013 Killing in Southeast Washington

            WASHINGTON – Carlos Parks, 19, was sentenced today to 22 years in prison and Troy Robinson, 21, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for their roles in the slaying of a man outside a housing complex in Southeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.

            Parks pled guilty on July 22, 2015, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to second-degree murder while armed for the death of Tywayne Thompson. The plea, which was contingent on the Court’s approval, called for 12 to 24 years of incarceration. Robinson pled guilty to the charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed for the same murder.  His plea, also contingent on the Court’s approval, called for 10 to 15 years of incarceration. The Honorable Jennifer Anderson accepted the pleas today. Parks and Robinson, both of Washington, D.C., will be placed on five years of supervised release following their prison terms.

            According to the government’s evidence, on June 24, 2013, at approximately 1:20 a.m., Parks and Robinson were outside in the Potomac Gardens Housing Complex in the 700 block of 12^th Street SE. At that time, Parks and Robinson were each armed with semi-automatic pistols.  A few minutes later, they approached Mr. Thompson, 25, who was also outside in the Potomac Gardens Housing Complex. They began to speak with him.

            Robinson then began shooting at Mr. Thompson.  At least one bullet from Robinson’s gun hit the victim. Parks then also began shooting at Mr. Thompson, and at least one bullet from Parks’s gun hit Mr. Thompson in his buttocks and exited through his abdomen. Mr. Thompson was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he died as a result of the wound from the shot fired by Parks through his buttocks and abdomen. Mr. Thompson was unarmed, and neither defendant was acting in self-defense.

            In announcing the sentences, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the detectives of the Criminal Investigations Division Homicide Branch, crime scene officers, and the First 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, La June Thames, M. Laverne Forrest, David Foster, and Michael Hailey of the Victim/Witness Unit; former Paralegal Specialist Mia Beamon; Paralegal Specialist Sandra Lane; and Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling.  Finally, he praised the efforts of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Kravis, who investigated and indicted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Liebman and Christopher Bruckmann, who prosecuted the case.