Defendant Conspired With Others to Break Into Victim's Residence
WASHINGTON - Eugene Sherman, 54, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for his role in the killing of a man following a break-in of the victim’s condominium in Northwest Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Peter Newsham, Acting Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Sherman pled guilty in January 2017, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to a charge of second-degree murder. He was sentenced by the Honorable Hiram E. Puig-Lugo. Following his prison term, Sherman will be placed on five years of supervised release. A co-defendant, Joseph Jennings, Jr., 36, was sentenced in December 2016 to a 24-year prison term after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree murder while armed.
According to the government’s evidence, on the morning of Jan. 22, 2016, Sherman enlisted the assistance of Jennings and another man in a plan to break into a condominium in the 400 block of M Street NW and steal marijuana. Jennings and the other man both were armed. At about 9:48 a.m., Jennings used an object to forcibly pry open the locked front door to the building. Sherman waited nearby, while Jennings and the other man continued inside the building. As they attempted to gain entry to the unit through a sliding glass balcony door, the victim, Matthew Shevlin, fled out of the front door and began screaming for help.
Jennings chased Mr. Shevlin, and a struggle ensued. During this struggle, Jennings shot Mr. Shevlin, 37, who later died of multiple gunshot wounds.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips and Acting Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocates James Brennan and Jennifer Clark, and Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Sharon Newman. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
