A D.C. judge found two teenage girls guilty Monday of murdering a disabled man in Northwest last year, the latest development in a brutal saga that began with a group of five bored girls prowling the streets looking for a random victim to attack.
Superior Court Judge Kendra Briggs found the two girls, 13 and 14, both guilty of second-degree murder for joining the fatal October 2023 assault of Reginald Brown in an alley near Georgia Avenue Northwest.
Judge Briggs cited copious evidence against the two girls, including surveillance footage, reports from the medical examiner, and the testimony of a co-conspirator, a 16-year-old girl who testified against the defendants after pleading guilty to her role in the killing.
Most damning was a roughly minute-long cell phone video taken during the assault. The clip showed multiple girls stomping on a defenseless Brown, 64, as the victim lay pantsless after the girls removed his belt and started whipping him with it.
Judge Briggs, in her comments on her verdict, zeroed in on some of the most shocking comments made by the girls that were captured on video during the attack, including the phrase “belt to ass.”
“Mr. Brown was murdered because these girls were bored, and they went out looking for someone to beat up on a Tuesday night,” Judge Briggs said while delivering her verdict.
The 16-year-old who testified against the two defendants pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon before the two teen girls went to trial. It was the 16-year-old’s testimony that revealed the attack started because the girls were bored.
Additionally, two other teen girls took plea deals while the trial was ongoing. It’s unclear what to charges the other two girls pleaded guilty.
Along with the murder charge, the 14-year-old girl was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, with the weapon being her foot, and conspiracy to commit assault.
The 13-year-old girl was convicted of those same charges, as well as tampering with evidence charges.
Judge Briggs said the 13-year-old instructed another girl to delete the video, and also said if police approached them, to tell authorities that Brown was “being weird” and “touching” the girls.
Under District law, juvenile convicts can only remain behind bars until they’re 21. Brown’s family said after the verdict that they felt shortchanged by such a punishment.
“The judge can only do up until 21 because they’re juveniles. But if they weren’t juveniles, I would prefer for them to do life. They took a life, so they deserve to be in jail for life,” Malda Brown, the victim’s older sister, told reporters outside the courthouse.
Ms. Brown also blamed the city’s juvenile detention facility, the Department of Youth Services, for failing to properly rehabilitate the defendants.
Judge Briggs said during the hearing that the 13-year-old girl assaulted staff members twice and assaulted fellow detainees on two separate occasions since her last court appearance earlier this month. The 13-year-old also had two disorderly incidents during that time frame.
“They should have pressed some charges to ensure that this young girl cannot continue doing what she’s doing, so until they are held accountable — that agency — we’re not going to go away after this trial,” Ms. Brown said.
According to court documents, Brown was being roughed up by an unknown man in a blue coat when the five girls — who were between the ages of 12-15 at the time — came upon the assault on Oct. 17, 2023.
The girls asked if they could join in, then helped the unknown man chase Brown down an alley. A medical examiner testified Brown died from an internal brain bleed triggered by repeated blows to the head.
Brown was suffering from cancer and had multiple fingers removed from both of his hands due to past medical issues.
The man who was originally assaulting Brown has not been found. Ms. Brown said she believes people in the neighborhood are not sharing his identity with police.
The 13-year-old girl will return to court for her sentencing on Dec. 4, while the 14-year-old will be back in court on Dec. 18.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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