A 16-year-old was arrested Tuesday for the murder of a man inside a Northeast D.C. apartment.
Keyonte Johnson, of D.C., was charged as an adult with premeditated first-degree murder in the shooting death of Roy Bennett, Jr., 20, of D.C., according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“This is yet another example of the out-of-control underage crime plaguing the District,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in the statement. “President Trump is right — it is time to put an end to this predictable violence and time to lower the age of accountability so that I can start prosecuting these young criminals before they commit murder.”
The teen’s arrest came several weeks after D.C. police announced that “four to five” suspects had fled the scene of the murder in the 300 block of Morse Street in D.C.’s Union Market neighborhood.
On Dec. 5, 20-year-old D.C. resident Roy Bennett, Jr., and several other people were in a Northeast D.C. apartment that was being used as a recording studio. As Bennett stood at a microphone, Johnson began shooting him, hitting him seven times, including two times in the back of his head, according to court documents.
As Johnson ran from the apartment, he allegedly threatened to kill a potential witness if they said anything about the killing.
D.C. police were called to investigate the shooting and found Bennett unconscious and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders.
During a search where Johnson was arrested, investigators recovered five magazines, one fully loaded, ammunition, an empty red dot sight box and clothing items that matched what Johnson was wearing.
He is being held without bond pending trial. Johnson will appear in court on Jan. 14.
Crime in the nation’s capital has been a sore spot between the White House and the District.
Over the summer, the Trump administration launched a federal law enforcement takeover of the city, inflaming tension between the administration and the majority-Democratic city where the president is unpopular.
National Guard units from the District and several Republican states remain deployed in the city.
