Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the victim lived in a very safe town and didn't believe the perpetrator would actually shoot. That's why he didn't give his belongings right away (still used the cell phone), which lead to an altercation.

Anonymous wrote:I have to take the metro on Friday and am terrified! DC will not be getting my $$$ until they clean up these worsening crime issues.

Anonymous wrote:The DC government needs to take over prosecution of all criminal offenses tried in DC Superior Court, i.e., the DC USAO needs to prosecute only federal crimes.

We can debate whether the mayor or the DC council/certain members are "soft" on crime or whether the DC AG's office would be effective, but the current system lacks any meaningful/necessary political feedback loops and this allows everyone to shrug their figuarative shoulders. Making an elected official (who is elected only by Washingtonians) the responsible party for prosecutions would provide me a glimmer of hope.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DC government needs to take over prosecution of all criminal offenses tried in DC Superior Court, i.e., the DC USAO needs to prosecute only federal crimes.

We can debate whether the mayor or the DC council/certain members are "soft" on crime or whether the DC AG's office would be effective, but the current system lacks any meaningful/necessary political feedback loops and this allows everyone to shrug their figuarative shoulders. Making an elected official (who is elected only by Washingtonians) the responsible party for prosecutions would provide me a glimmer of hope.

100% agree.

But this is one of the biggest downsides of no statehood for DC: all acts of crime in DC are "federal" crimes. We have little control of prosecution.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nbcwashington.com/breaking-news/arrest-made-in-killing-of-kentucky-teacher-at-catholic-university-police-say/3382658/

Good. Except it appears the suspect has been arrested before (twice) for gun-related offenses. This was preventable.

This is exactly why Democrats won’t reduce the violence. All talk, and no effective action. Thoughts and prayers.

Anonymous wrote:The DC government needs to take over prosecution of all criminal offenses tried in DC Superior Court, i.e., the DC USAO needs to prosecute only federal crimes.

We can debate whether the mayor or the DC council/certain members are "soft" on crime or whether the DC AG's office would be effective, but the current system lacks any meaningful/necessary political feedback loops and this allows everyone to shrug their figuarative shoulders. Making an elected official (who is elected only by Washingtonians) the responsible party for prosecutions would provide me a glimmer of hope.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22 y/o Jaime Maceo charged with the murder of Kentucky teacher Maxwell Emerson last week on the Catholic University campus

1. Jaime Maceo was arrested 5/22/22 for assault with a ghost gun in NW DC. Maceo shot during exchange of gunfire w/neighbor.

2. Released by Superior Court judge 6/21/22 until trial scheduled 4/3/23.

3. Meantime on 8/27/22 Maceo was charged with threats to do bodily harm to a 7-11 clerk in NW DC.

4. Convicted in bench trial 3/2/23 and sentenced to 120 days with jail time suspended in lieu of 1 year probation

5. Original trial from step 2 pushed back to 7/10/23.

4. Case dismissed 6/30/23.

5. Max Emerson murdered 7/5/23

He would have been ON TRIAL starting yesterday for a prior shooting victim (that one lived) had USAO not no papered it/declined to prosecute at the last minute, as they do in 67% of arrests. Had this guy with a gun PRIOR been held pending trial on 7/10/23 and had the case gone forward he would not have been on the street and the poor tourist teacher WOULD BE ALIVE.

Graves has a lower prosecution rate than any other big city. He is full of excuses but even "kids are kids" Schwab has a no paper rate of 26% vs the astronomical 67% rate of federally appointed Graves. Schwab has the exact same lab, MPD and other challenges. Graves may have the lowest prosecution rate in the country and when they do go forward they drastically plead down cases putting dangerous people back on the street. Congress really needs to exercise oversight over DOJ and their USAO for DC. If it's a resource issue, fix it. There needs to be a real cards on the table about what is really at play. Is it ideological? https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/04/politics/black-prosecutors-dc-gun-cases/index.html

Another startling example of how the USAO does business https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/armed-man-who-attacked-dc-pub-owner-in-front-of-4-year-old-boy-offered-plea-deal-to-victims-dismay/3382018/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22 y/o Jaime Maceo charged with the murder of Kentucky teacher Maxwell Emerson last week on the Catholic University campus

1. Jaime Maceo was arrested 5/22/22 for assault with a ghost gun in NW DC. Maceo shot during exchange of gunfire w/neighbor.

2. Released by Superior Court judge 6/21/22 until trial scheduled 4/3/23.

3. Meantime on 8/27/22 Maceo was charged with threats to do bodily harm to a 7-11 clerk in NW DC.

4. Convicted in bench trial 3/2/23 and sentenced to 120 days with jail time suspended in lieu of 1 year probation

5. Original trial from step 2 pushed back to 7/10/23.

4. Case dismissed 6/30/23.

5. Max Emerson murdered 7/5/23

He would have been ON TRIAL starting yesterday for a prior shooting victim (that one lived) had USAO not no papered it/declined to prosecute at the last minute, as they do in 67% of arrests. Had this guy with a gun PRIOR been held pending trial on 7/10/23 and had the case gone forward he would not have been on the street and the poor tourist teacher WOULD BE ALIVE.

Graves has a lower prosecution rate than any other big city. He is full of excuses but even "kids are kids" Schwab has a no paper rate of 26% vs the astronomical 67% rate of federally appointed Graves. Schwab has the exact same lab, MPD and other challenges. Graves may have the lowest prosecution rate in the country and when they do go forward they drastically plead down cases putting dangerous people back on the street. Congress really needs to exercise oversight over DOJ and their USAO for DC. If it's a resource issue, fix it. There needs to be a real cards on the table about what is really at play. Is it ideological? https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/04/politics/black-prosecutors-dc-gun-cases/index.html

Another startling example of how the USAO does business https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/armed-man-who-attacked-dc-pub-owner-in-front-of-4-year-old-boy-offered-plea-deal-to-victims-dismay/3382018/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sounds fishy.

+1

hard disagree. Did you even read the article?? In town from Kentucky with mom and brother to attend teacher's conference . . walking to metro at 8am to go to conference after watching fireworks the day before with mom and brother. This is an unbelievably horrific crime. DC better get its act together and start holding these criminals to account. No more catch and release, please. No more categorizing "youth" offenders that are in their 20s.

+1

I have lived in DC for awhile but admittedly don’t know that area too well. I have gotten lost or taken the ‘long way’ to a destination many times in my travels. This guy was a tourist so he wouldn’t necessarily know the most direct route to a location or maybe took a few wrong turns.

Years ago, I was in Budapest and had gone on a city tour. At the end of the tour, my friend, another American who was on the tour and I were looking for a restaurant and a guy asked us if we needed help. We naively followed him off the main street onto a side street. Luckily, I realized what was happening and yelled to my friend. We ran as fast as we could back to the main street. The American we had just met did not run and was pick pocketed but luckily was not injured. I could see a scenario like that happening. The young man is looking for the metro; the robber/gunman offers to show him how to get to the metro and leads him onto the campus and off of busy Michigan Ave with the intention of robbing him, which then turns into a senseless murder.

His mother said the family had stayed at Trinity on prior visits to DC. They had taken metro to see the fireworks the night before. He was not unfamiliar with the route. Something else happened.

Yes but there was always a diagonal cut-through to metro from the basilica through campus. That route is now blocked by construction - which one notices just beyond the area of the plaza where he was shot. He was either turned around or maybe lured there somehow. Hopefully video surveillance shows his path and the killer’s arrival in the area, and that gives a clue.