Two Maryland Men Charged With Killing Maryland Pro Boxer

            WASHINGTON – Jayvon Thomas, 20, and Lavar Hunter, 19, were arraigned today, in Superior Court for the District of Columbia, on one count of first degree felony murder while armed, for the November 2023 murder 24-year-old Anwar “The Silent Assassin” Wingate, a professional boxer from Maryland, during an armed robbery, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves.

            The murder, on November 19, 2023, happened inside a parking garage located at 2112 8^th Street NW.  Wingate was shot in the neck after he tried to fight off the two men who were able to get the jump on him by catching him off guard. The defendants were arrested yesterday morning in Maryland. Both defendants entered not guilty pleas today. The Honorable Magistrate Judge Eric Glover found probable cause that the defendants committed the murder and held them without bond pending a preliminary hearing on February 2, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., before Judge Raffinan in Courtroom 203.  

            An arrest on a complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

            In announcing the charges, U.S. Attorney Graves commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and Assistant United States Attorneys Kathleen Gibbons and Alec Levy for their continued efforts in prosecuting this case.