Nineteen Shots Fired at Victim and His Friends
WASHINGTON - Dwayne Hilton, 26, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a prison term of 61 ½ years for the 2011 slaying of a teenager in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Hilton was found guilty by a jury in September 2016 of first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and related firearms offenses. The verdict followed a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable José M. López.
According to the government’s evidence, on Nov. 26, 2011, at approximately 12:35 a.m., Hilton and an unknown accomplice followed the victim, 18-year-old Mico Briscoe, and his friends for approximately two blocks, as they walked to the Circle 7 convenience store in the 1200 block of Mount Olivet Road NE. Hilton and the accomplice ran up behind Mr. Briscoe and his friends. As Mr. Briscoe and three friends approached the front door of the Circle 7, they were shot approximately 19 times from behind. Mr. Briscoe was shot once directly in the back, and once from a ricochet in the clavicle. He died several hours later. One of his friends was shot in the elbow, and survived. The remaining two friends suffered graze wounds.
This shooting is believed to have arisen from an old rivalry between two neighborhood groups in the Trinidad and E Street/Rosedale areas. Hilton was arrested on Feb. 11, 2013, and has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by Deputy U.S. Marshals John Hale and Gregory Conner of the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. They acknowledged the efforts of those who handled the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Chrisellen Kolb; Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; David Foster, LaJune Thames, and Meshall Thomas all of the Victim/Witness Assistance Unit; Forensic Operation/Program Specialist Benjamin Kagan-Guthrie, and Paralegal Specialists Sandra Lane and Zekiah Wright.
Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Fulton, who investigated the case and secured the defendant’s indictment, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Donovan and Alicia Long, who investigated and prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
