D.C. sees first homicide since law enforcement surge, as Trump calls for death penalty for murder

The District of Columbia recorded its first homicide in the nearly two weeks since federal law enforcement surged in the nation’s capital, and President Trump declared Tuesday that anyone who murders in the city will face capital punishment.

“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Mr. Trump said in a Cabinet meeting. “That’s a very strong preventative. And everybody that’s heard it agrees with it. I don’t know if we’re ready for it in this country, but … we have no choice. … States are going to have to make their own decision.”

The federal government can seek capital punishment for anyone convicted of a major federal crime in the District, which abolished the death penalty in 1981.

Mr. Trump has been pushing for reinstating the death penalty in the nation’s capital since he returned to office in January. He called for the death penalty as federal prosecutors began identifying some of those arrested during the surge of federal law enforcement he ordered on Aug. 11.

Early Tuesday, a man was mortally wounded by gunfire in the 300 block of Anacostia Road Southeast, the Metropolitan Police Department said. The man, whose identity wasn’t released, died at a hospital a short time later.

The slaying ended a 12-day streak in which the District had not recorded a homicide. On Monday, Mr. Trump hailed the lull in the bloodshed as the longest stretch for the capital city in years.

However, the District has had three longer homicide-free streaks this year, including two-week stretches in April and May. The city’s longest streak without a killing this year was the 16 days from Feb. 25 to March 12.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that federal authorities had arrested 1,094 people and made 115 illegal gun seizures during Mr. Trump’s takeover of local policing.

Ms. Bondi said those arrested Monday included a Tren de Aragua gang member, the second one captured during the takeover, and a man caught burning an American flag in Lafayette Park near the White House.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia disclosed the identities of those captured during the federal sweeps, offering a better idea of the violent crime arrests previously mentioned only in social media posts.

Police arrested two murder suspects who had been at large for months and a rape suspect with a history of sex crimes in the District.

Prosecutors said Tarik Settles, 30, was linked to an April 22 shooting in Southeast. Police said he gunned down 22-year-old Dar’Juan McRoy during a personal dispute outside an apartment building in the 2900 block of Knox Place Southeast.

Court documents said Mr. Settles fled to an alleyway and hid inside a dumpster before he was picked up by a car registered in his name.

Mr. Settles has had multiple interactions with police and has sometimes been arrested on the same block where the shooting took place, the court filing said.

A warrant for his arrest was issued Aug. 12, and the FBI captured him on first-degree murder charges two days later. Mr. Settles is in jail and is scheduled to go before a judge Sept. 2.

Prosecutors said the other murder suspect is Leroy Dixon, 17, who is accused of fatally shooting a teen boy in the Navy Yard neighborhood shortly after a Washington Nationals game in May.

Court documents said Mr. Dixon fatally shot 16-year-old Dominique Dingle at point-blank range in front of a row house in the 1000 block of Third Place Southeast.

According to the filing, the teens were inside a car when an argument started and Mr. Dixon told Dominique, “Don’t make me do this in front of your mother.”

A tipster who claimed to be a friend of both boys told police that the two had been feuding and had come to blows in the weeks before the deadly shooting.

“At some point, Domo and Leroy fought, and Domo is believed to have gotten the best of Leroy, which embarrassed him,” the documents said.

“The caller suggested it is because the decedent has hand deformities that Leroy was so embarrassed about losing the fight,” the filing stated. “Since then, there have been several occasions where Leroy has pulled a gun on Domo. The caller added that Leroy has personally told [him] that he would not fight Domo again, and that he would kill him.”

The documents said Mr. Dixon was arrested with an illegal gun on the same block where the shooting happened just four days before Dominique was killed.

A warrant for Mr. Dixon’s arrest was issued in June, and he was captured Aug. 11. He remains locked up and will make his next court appearance Sept. 18.

No officials said Tuesday whether they would seek the death penalty for Mr. Settles or Mr. Dixon.

The last execution in the District was carried out in 1957. Mr. Trump did not explain how he intends to implement his proposed policy.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that U.S. Marshals had captured rape suspect Andre Lucas on Aug. 14 inside an apartment in the 1000 block of Bladensburg Road Northeast.

Lucas, who has prior convictions for sex abuse and burglary in the District, was wanted in Prince George’s County in connection with a first-degree rape with a dangerous weapon on Aug. 5.

Court documents said Lucas claimed he was suicidal and needed medication after his arrest. Police took him to Washington Hospital Center for treatment, and he began lashing out at authorities.

“I’ll f——— kill all three of ya’ll officers. If you touch me, I’m gonna take your gun and shoot you, then I’ll shoot myself. So we all be dead in this room,” Lucas said, according to the filing. “I’m gonna make a real emergency out of you. I’ll f——— kill you officers right now.”

The documents said police tightened his handcuffs after his outburst, but Lucas kept threatening the officers and spat on them. He was hit with additional charges of assaulting and threatening police officers.

In 2017, Lucas was sentenced to six years behind bars for barging into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her.

Police said Lucas had answered the woman’s online advertisement to buy her cellphone. He stole some of the woman’s belongings after the assault.

Court records show Lucas remains in jail and has a mental competency hearing scheduled for Sept. 8. Prosecutors said he is expected to be extradited to Prince George’s County to face rape charges.

During his Cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump revived his criticisms of the Metropolitan Police Department’s crime data. He called the statistics “phony numbers” for showing large drops in violent crime in the city.

“They have to stop issuing false crime numbers,” the president said before criticizing D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, for citing law enforcement data indicating a 30-year low in violent crime.

The president again mentioned the Metropolitan Police Department commander who is under investigation on suspicion of manipulating violent crime numbers to make the city appear safer than it is.

Mr. Trump has cited the ongoing investigation to justify federalizing the District’s police force and deploying nearly 2,000 National Guard troops to the nation’s capital.

The Justice Department opened an inquiry into the crime numbers last week, and the Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said it also was investigating the accuracy of MPD crime data.

Tuesday marked the 15th day of Mr. Trump’s crime emergency in the District.

The emergency declaration can last only 30 days, and extending it would require congressional approval. That seems unlikely, given that an extension would need Democratic support.