A 16-year-old boy is facing murder charges as an adult in the death of a D.C. man at a Northeast apartment last month.
On Dec. 5, victim Roy Bennett Jr., 20, and suspect Keyonte Johnson were both in a Union Market apartment being used as a recording studio along with several others, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said.
Bennett stepped up to the microphone with Mr. Johnson sitting behind him on a couch, federal prosecutors said. Mr. Johnson is accused of opening fire, hitting Bennett seven times — including two shots to the chest and two to the back of Bennett’s head.
Mr. Johnson is also accused of threatening another person there that he would kill them if they said anything about the alleged killing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said.
Bennett was pronounced dead at the scene following lifesaving efforts by paramedics, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Following an investigation into the incident and the issuance of an arrest warrant, Mr. Johnson was taken into custody in Maryland Tuesday. Federal prosecutors identify him as a D.C. resident, while the police said he hails from Bladensburg.
While executing the warrant, authorities found five magazines, one of which was fully loaded with ammunition, a box of 10mm bullets, rifle ammunition, iron rifle sights and pieces of clothing matching what witnesses said Mr. Johnson was wearing the night of Bennett’s death, federal prosecutors said.
Mr. Johnson is charged with premeditated first-degree murder while armed, and is being held without bond. He is due back in court on Jan. 14.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said the incident is “yet another example of the out-of-control underage crime plaguing the District.”
“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,” she said.
