Victims Accosted and Robbed in Capitol Hill Neighborhood
WASHINGTON - Kyree Black, 18, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for robbing pedestrians with a BB-gun last fall in a Capitol Hill neighborhood, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Black pled guilty in December 2015, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to two counts of robbery and one count of receiving stolen property. The Honorable Anita Josey-Herring sentenced him to a total of 48 months in prison, but suspended 18 of the months on the condition that he successfully complete three years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, Black robbed three men in the Capitol Hill neighborhood near Nationals Park in Southeast Washington. On Oct. 21, 2015, at approximately 9 p.m., he approached the first victim, who was walking down the sidewalk in the unit block of L Street SE, displayed a gun, and demanded his cell phone. Fifteen minutes later, and one block away, in the unit block of K Street SE, the defendant found his next victim, who he also approached and robbed of a cell phone at gunpoint. Then, on Oct. 23, 2015, at about 9:15 p.m., Black again approached a person on the sidewalk in the 900 block of New Jersey Avenue SE, displayed a gun, and robbed the victim of a laptop and a cell phone. The last robbery was witnessed by an off-duty police officer and the defendant was immediately apprehended.
The phones from all three victims were found in Black’s pockets, together with a BB-gun that resembled a semi-automatic firearm. Each of the victims had relinquished their property because they feared for their lives.
At the sentencing hearing, one victim described the robbery as a “terrible event" and he specifically thanked officers from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for “the police support I received after this event."
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the First District Detectives Division, crime scene officers, and the patrol officers in both the First and Seventh Police Districts of the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Jennifer Allen of the Victim Witness Unit. In addition, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dineen A. Baker and Douglas Klein, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
