WASHINGTON — The 19-year-old D.C. man convicted of first degree murder in the 2010 killing of 18-year-old Latisha Frazier was sentenced to 52 years in prison on Thursday.
Johnnie Sweet was one of the leaders of a group of friends who took part in Frazier’s murder.
On Aug. 2, 2010, a group of six friends invited Frazier to an apartment where they claimed to be having a social gathering. The friends, ranging in age from 16 to 23, falsely believed Frazier had stolen $900 from Sweet, prosecutors say.
Frazier, who believed these were her friends, went to the get-together and was lured to a small bedroom where Sweet and others kicked, punched and stomped on her body. They bound her in duct tape and taped a pillowcase over her head so “she could not scream,” says a Department of Justice news release.
The group then put her in a small, dark closet. When Frazier screamed and moaned, one of the group “put her in a sleeper hold,” the release states. Later, they discovered Frazier was dead, the court found.
Sweet and others brought Frazier into a bathtub and dismembered her body for disposal. That evening, they threw Frazier into a dumpster. Her body was never recovered and authorities believe she is somewhere in one or two rural Virginia landfills.
For months after Frazier’s disappearance, her family and friends sought to find her by passing out fliers and contacting local media outlets. About six months later, a witness contacted Metropolitan Police about her whereabouts.
Seven people were charged with various offences and six former co-defendants have pleaded guilty. They include Brian Gaither, 25, Laurence Kamal Hassan, 24, Cinthya Proctor, 21, Anneka Nelson, 19, Lanee Bell, 20 and Antoine McCullough, 27.
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