Two men accused in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man earlier this month in Northeast Washington may have been seeking retaliation after the killing of their friend on Jan. 1, according to court documents filed in the case Thursday.
Authorities said in the arrest affidavit that the suspects had been pallbearers at their friend’s funeral in Suitland, Md., on Jan. 11. The following day, D.C. police said, Michael J. Taylor was fatally shot in the head as he tried to run up the stairs of an apartment building on Benning Road NE.
Police said Taylor didn’t make it past the first landing as four masked gunmen standing in a line fired at least 71 bullets at him. Two bystanders were also struck — a juvenile who was seriously injured and a man who was left in critical condition with a bullet wound to the head.
On Thursday, police announced the arrests of Alonzo Brown, 21, and Stephon Evans, 18, both of Northeast Washington. Each was charged with first-degree murder while armed. Two other suspected gunmen are being sought.
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A D.C. Superior Court judge ordered Brown and Evans detained until hearings on Feb. 15. Their attorneys did not respond to interview requests.
Police said in court documents that Brown and Evans are friends and members of the Big Walk Down Gang associated with the Pentacle apartment complex in the 1500 block of Benning Road.
The arrest affidavit says the man killed in Southeast Washington on Jan. 1, Shamar Marbury, 19, was close friends with Brown and Evans and had lived in the Pentacle apartments. One of Marbury’s relatives told police that friends may have been plotting revenge.
Taylor was shot shortly after 2 p.m. after being chased into a building at the Benning Courts apartments in the 1700 block of Benning Road NE. Police said the shooting was captured on video surveillance cameras that show some of the gunmen pulling masks on their faces.
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Police did not say in the affidavit whether Taylor was suspected of being involved in Marbury’s killing the night of Jan. 1. He was shot inside an apartment stairwell in the 4200 block of Barnaby Road SE.
A police spokesman did not respond to questions about the case.
Taylor’s relatives could not be reached Thursday. Earlier this month, the victim’s aunt, Tonisia Carter, said her nephew had moved away from Benning Road but returned often to visit friends. She said he was a 2014 charter high school graduate and worked for a home-rehabilitation business and part time for a party-supply company.
At the time, Carter said she had no idea why her nephew had been shot.
Taylor was the latest victim on a street where several recent shootings and other crimes have occurred. Between Sept. 21 and Taylor’s killing Jan. 12, police said 11 people were shot and one person stabbed on Benning Road between 15th and 18th streets NE. Five of them died.
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