Pair of DC men sentenced to total of 32 years in prison for 2021 murder

D.C. prosecutors and officers have announced sentences totaling more than 30 years for two District men for their part in the April 2021 murder of 29-year-old Kerry Odoms.

Twenty-four-year-old Malachi McFarland and 27-year-old Andre Smith, both D.C. residents, were sentenced to 14 and 18 years in prison, respectively, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder while armed charges on Oct. 30, 2023.

McFarland had previously been charged with first-degree murder, according to D.C. police.

The incident happened just before 10 p.m. on April 15, 2021, while Odoms, McFarland and others were in the 3300 block of 10th Place SE in the Congress Heights neighborhood.

According to evidence presented by prosecutors, Smith approached the group, attacked Odoms and fired multiple shots.

“As Smith began shooting at Odoms, McFarland ran a short distance away, returned, and fired a second round of gunshots directly at Odoms,” the department said in a news release. “The gunfire from both defendants killed Odoms, who suffered eight gunshot wounds.”

Additional charges related to the shooting death of Odom were not disclosed in the department’s statement.

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Ivy Lyons

Ivy Lyons is a digital journalist for WTOP.com. Since 2018, they have worked on Capitol Hill, at NBC News in Washington, and with WJLA in Washington.

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