More than two years after D.C. police said a spray of gang gunfire killed 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson, 11 people will be tried in connection with her murder in groups.
“It’s unwieldy to think about all these people being tried at the same time,” said Judge Ronna Beck to the slew of attorneys and the two assistant U.S. attorneys representing the government.
Eleven attorneys representing 11 defendants sat closely around a long table in courtroom 203 of D.C. Superior Court. Looking on from behind, the defendants’ friends and family sat on one side of the gallery. On the other sat Wilson’s family, wearing bright pink T-shirts with photos of the young girl in her memory.
The defendants — 10 men and one woman — were indicted by a grand jury last month in the July 2018 shooting death of Wilson in her Northeast D.C. neighborhood. Eight of the 11 are charged with murder. All are charged with conspiracy and being a member of an illegal street gang.
Wilson was walking to an ice cream truck when prosecutors said a group of people pulled up in a black Infiniti sedan, jumped out and opened fire indiscriminately on the crowd of neighbors enjoying the summer night. Wilson was killed instantly. Her sister and three others were wounded.
Court documents identify the four masked gunmen as Gregory Taylor, Qujuan Thomas, Antonio Murchison and Isaiah Murchison.
The judge set the first trial for Aug. 20, 2020 for the six defendants who have spent the most time incarcerated: Thomas, Taylor, Quincy Garvin, Saquan Williams, Quentin Michals and Mark Tee Price. Prosecutors said the trial is expected to last two months.
The second trial for Darrise Jeffers, Marquell Cobbs, Isaiah Murchison and his brother, Antonio Murchison, will begin Jan. 5, 2021. Quanisha Latoya Ramsuer will be tried on an obstruction of justice charge separately in February 2020.
