Three Shooters More than 100 Years of Incarceration Each for Labor Day Weekend Triple Murder in 2021

            WASHINGTON – Erwin Dubose, Kamar Queen, Damonta Thompson, William Johnson Lee, and Mussay Rezene, all of Washington, D.C., and Toyia Johnson, of Rockville, MD, were sentenced Thursday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on 27 felony charges arising from the September 4, 2021 Labor Day weekend murders of three people in front of 633 Longfellow Street, NW, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

            On October 30, 2025, three of the defendants were sentenced to more than 100 years of incarceration for their participation in the conspiracy and their role as shooters: Dubose was sentenced to 123 years of incarceration; Queen was sentenced to 120 years of incarceration, and Johnson Lee was sentenced to 105 years of incarceration. Thompson was sentenced to 35 years for his participation in the conspiracy and driving the co-defendants to and from the shooting scene. Finally, Rezene was sentenced to three years of incarceration for his convictions for accessory after the fact to first degree murder while armed and tampering with physical evidence, and Johnson was sentenced to 24 months of incarceration, execution of sentenced suspended as to all, for her convictions for accessory after the fact, to assault with a dangerous weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

            On July 3, 2025, a jury found Dubose, Queen, Johnson Lee and Thompson guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, three counts of first-degree murder while armed with aggravating circumstances, and three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. The jury found defendant Johnson guilty of tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory after the fact to assault with intent to kill while armed. The jury found defendant Rezene guilty of tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory after the fact to first degree murder while armed.

            According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 7:33 p.m., on September 4, 2021, Thompson drove Dubose, Queen and Johnson Lee, to the 600 block of Longfellow Street, NW. Those three men got out of the vehicle, crept to the corner of Longfellow and 7^th Streets, NW, and began indiscriminately shooting into a neighborhood gathering. The three shooters ran back to the waiting vehicle Thompson was driving and fled the scene.

            Three victims, Ms. Donetta Dyson, 31, Mr. Keenan Braxton, 24, and Mr. Johnny Joyner, 37, were killed and another three victims sustained non-lethal gunshot wounds from the shooting.

            Shortly after the homicide, an associate of Dubose, Toyia Johnson, who rented the vehicle Thompson was driving at the time of the incident, began placing multiple 911 calls in which she falsely reported the suspect vehicle stolen. Shortly after midnight on September 6, 2021, Dubose and Rezene drove to the 4500 block of Eads Street, NE and set fire to the vehicle. The evidence established that triple homicide was in retaliation for a shooting that occurred an hour prior in the 800 block of Oglethorpe Street, NE.

            Joining in the announcement is Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Pirro and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. Finally, they acknowledged the work of Assistant United States Attorneys Colleen Kukowski and Charles R. Jones, who prosecuted the case.