Watch video from WTOP’s news partner NBC Washington on reaction to the charges in the death of an 11-year-old boy killed by stray gunfire.
Three men, who federal prosecutors say were involved in the shooting death of a child killed by stray gunfire more than a year and a half ago in Southeast D.C., have pleaded guilty.
The shooting, which broke out after a Fourth of July community cookout in 2020, left 11-year-old Davon McNeal dead outside an apartment complex on Cedar Street Southeast. He was shot in the head.
But the McNeal family say they aren’t satisfied with the plea deal.
On Friday, it was announced that Daryle Bond, 20, Marcel Gordon, 26, and Christian Wingfield, 24, each pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter. It’s a significantly lesser charge than the premeditated first degree murder charge the three initially faced when they were arrested in the weeks after the shooting.
Under the plea deal, the three will serve between 7 1/2 to 10 years in prison when they’re sentenced in June, but with time already served, all three could be out before the end of the decade.
McNeal’s family had blistering words for prosecutors, accusing them of letting the three suspects get away with murder.
“It is a burning emotion right now,” John Ayala, McNeal’s grandfather, told WTOP’s news partner NBC Washington. “I feel like I’m on fire.”
He says the decision to give them a plea deal to avoid trial was “not acceptable” to the family.
“They’ll be out maybe in five years, and my grandson will never be back here again,” Ayala said. “He only lived on this planet for 11 years, so it’s not a good feeling at all.”
A fourth person involved in the shootout is on track to go to trial on murder charges; he pleaded not guilty.
