Opinion ID: 8487230
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First Conspiracy: Alabama Avenue Shooting5

Text: On the night of March 21, 2010, Sanquan was at a party with a group of acquaintances, including Andre Morgan and Jordan Howe, who were godbrothers, in the basement apartment of Jam’ya Wilkins, located at 1333 Alabama Avenue, Southeast, Washington, D.C. At the party, San-quan showed off his fake diamond bracelet to numerous individuals, including Howe. After the party, Sanquan realized that his bracelet had been stolen. He became upset and rampaged through Wilkins’s apartment looking for the bracelet, which he suspected that one of the men at the party had stolen. Sanquan, with assistance from Morgan, then went to find Howe at Howe’s apartment, where Sanquan confronted Howe about the bracelet. In response, Howe told Sanquan, “[M]an, nobody got that fake bracelet, not nobody,” and San-quan responded, “[Yj’all motherfuers playing. Y’all need to come up with the bracelet.” Morgan and Sanquan then attempted to find and confront the other men at the party, but were unable to locate them. Undeterred, on his way back to the apartment building on Alabama Avenue, Sanquan called his older brother Orlando and told him that he had been robbed and to “bring everything.” When Sanquan called, Orlando was with his friend, Nathaniel Simms, in a silver Kia Spectra, which belonged to Simms’s girlfriend, Brittany Young. Orlando told San-quan on the phone, “[W]e about to be on our way up there” and he then told Simms that Sanquan had just been robbed and that they needed to pick up their other friend, Best, to ride with them to meet Sanquan. Simms and Orlando first went to the home of Orlando’s godmother, Shiree Little, where Orlando picked up his AK-47 rifle, and afterwards, they picked up Best from his home, The three men then went to Williams’s home, where Williams gave them Simms’s .380 pistol and Williams’s shotgun. Orlando told the group, “[Mjoth-erfuers robbed my little brother[;j they going to see.” Best replied, “[Ojh, yeah, I love this sh. I love this sh.” Williams then showed Best how to use the shotgun. In preparation for the encounter, Orlando switched from his bright red jacket into a black jacket that was in the Kia’s trunk and Best also switched into another jacket. Williams got out of the car before the men drove off toward 1333 Alabama Avenue, Southeast. When Simms, Orlando, and Best arrived at Aabama Avenue, Sanquan approached the car and Orlando told him to “come on.” Sanquan replied, ‘You think I brought [you] all the way over here for nothing?” Sanquan then took the .380 - pistol from Simms. Sanquan, Orlando, and Best approached the apartment -building where the party had occurred earlier and where numerous individuals who had attended the party were still standing outside. San-quan brandished the .380 pistol, Orlando brandished the AK-47, and Best held the shotgun, while Simms remained in the car. Sanquan held the individuals in front of the apartment at gunpoint while he patted them down and demanded the return of his bracelet. After one of the individuals refused to be patted down, Sanquan turned to Orlando and Orlando asked San-quan if he should, “Go ham?”, i.e., whether they should start shooting, to which San-quan replied, “Go ham.” The three men then started shooting at the group indiscriminately. Sanquan fired all five rounds that had been in the .380 pistol, Orlando fired all twenty-eight rounds from the AK-47, and Best fired the shotgun three times. During the shooting, Howe, who was in a car nearby, was hit by a stray bullet and died, while two others, juvenile V.K.M. and Tavon Lambert, were injured by the gunfire. After seeing Howe’s body and realizing that Howe was ■ dead, Morgan, who had supported Sanquan up. to that point but who was Howe’s godbrother, left the scene vowing revenge on the Carter brothers. He immediately went to meet with other friends and told them what had occurred, and they all formed an agreement to murder Sanquan and Orlando in retaliation. Jordan Howe’s cousin, Kalisha Howe, who had been present during the shooting, remained on the scene and identified San-quan that night to the police from a photograph. She also identified Orlando from a nine-person photo array the following day, saying it “could be” him. Wilkins, the woman who hosted the party in her basement apartment, also identified Sanquan on the night of the shooting. After the shooting, Simms drove San-quan, Orlando, and Best to the apartment of one of the Carter brothers’ relatives by marriage, Ronald Ray. At the apartment, the men hid their weapons and boasted about the shooting. .Sanquan explained to the men what had happened before their arrival and complained that he was given a gun with only five bullets. Best said that he was not sure if he had successfully fired the shotgun, but thought • he may have once. Orlando bragged that he had shot Howe and shot at a “nosy” woman on the top floor of the apartment . building. 6 After the discussion,' Simms alone left Ray’s apartment. The next day, while Simms was in the Kia with his girlfriend, Young, he met Orlando and Best and allowed Orlando to get his red jacket and Best to get his black jacket from the trunk of the ear, all of which Young later testified to witnessing.