Affidavit: Man charged in 10-year-old girl’s death used ‘Pentagon’ code to discuss shooting

Makiyah Wilson, 10, was gunned down July 16 near a Northeast D.C. playground on 53rd Street. (Courtesy NBC Washington)

WASHINGTON — Speaking in code, recruiting shooters over text message and hiding weapons are just some of the details to come out of court documents which outline how two men planned the shooting that killed a 10-year-old girl.

Two men are in custody, charged with the murder of young Makiyah Wilson: 21-year-old Quentin Michals known as “Q” and 20-year-old Qujuan Thomas.

Both are members of the Wellington Park gang in Southeast, according to court documents.

D.C. police are still looking for four other suspects who are seen on surveillance video pulling into the Clay Terrace neighborhood of Southeast at 8 p.m. on July 16 and opening fire, injuring four people and killing Wilson as she walked home from an ice cream truck.

The deadly shooting took all of nine seconds, investigators write that they found 76 bullet casings expelled from four different guns — including an assault-style pistol that investigators think shot the bullet that killed Wilson.

Following the shooting in the rival Clay Terrace neighborhood of Northeast, Thomas used code to discuss the shooting over a prison call with Michael’s brother, Quincy Garvin, according to the affidavit that outlines the probable cause to warrant Thomas’ arrest.

Garvin is being held without bond, awaiting trial on a separate murder case.

The documents allege that during one of the jail calls associated with Garvin’s jail account number, he and Thomas discussed a “terrorist attack at the Pentagon which is believed to be a reference to the July 16, 2018 shooting of Makiyah Wilson.”

They go on to say that “they found the airplane,” which police contend is in reference to officers finding the stolen black Infiniti sedan used in the shooting.

During the calls, Garvin asks Thomas “who was at the Pentagon on the day of the attack,” and Thomas proceeds to list three people’s nicknames; two whom D.C. police write are known members of the Wellington Park crew.

Thomas comments multiple times that he participated in the shooting, investigators write in the affidavit.

However, police believe Michals planned it.

Ahead of the shooting, the two men acquired the getaway vehicle from Kevin Jones and his friend and allegedly paid them $125 for the car, according to the documents. Jones was later arrested in Prince George’s County for carjacking the black Infiniti sedan.

Michals has copious incoming and outgoing text messages with his Wellington Park crew members coordinating the transfer of weapons used in the shooting and recruiting different people to join in, the document says.

A search of Michal’s iPhone 8 Plus reveals calls coming into and from his phone around 11 p.m. the night of the shooting pinging off a tower in Temple Hills, Maryland, where investigators found the Infiniti sedan that contained evidence including white gloves and a bullet casing that matched those found at the shooting scene, the documents say.

Surveillance video shows the Infiniti pulling onto the street where police later found it at 11:08 p.m.

It’s exactly the same time that Michal’s cellphone is on a call connected to the nearest tower in Temple Hills, Maryland, it said.

Megan Cloherty

WTOP Investigative Reporter Megan Cloherty primarily covers breaking news, crime and courts.

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