WASHINGTON — Two D.C. men pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the death of a 32-year-old man on Thursday. Keshawn Lavender, 22, and Deandre Sams, 27, are currently being held without bond for their roles in a death of Matthew Miller inside a Southwest D.C. apartment building on Tuesday.
Court documents paint a violent picture of what went down inside the fifth-floor apartment of the Valo Apartments in the Wharf neighborhood. The shooting left Miller dead, and several others hurt, including a person hospitalized with facial injuries from jumping out of the apartment window to escape the gunfire.
When officers were first called to the scene, on M Street Wednesday afternoon, a witness approached and told them someone was hanging off the side of the building. Police found the man on the ground. The same witness pointed them inside to the lobby area of the building.
When officers went inside the apartment building, another witness told them two men jumped a fence and got into a dark-colored car. While talking to the witness, another man came out of the elevator, yelling "officer," according to the documents. The man was shot several times, and told police, "They tried to rob me," the documents say. He also told one of the officers his friend may be dead in the apartment on the fifth floor.
According to the documents, the victim told officers he was eating in the apartment with two other people when three or four guys dressed in black clothing rushed in and started shooting.
Inside the apartment, the documents say officers discovered Miller in a bedroom. He had been shot twice and pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators also found a zip-tie around one of Miller's wrists, and a broken zip tie near his right side.
Police observed blood stains and bullet holes all through the apartment, along with cash scattered in the living room and kitchen area. Officers also found large quantities of plastic bags containing a "weed-like" substance, according to documents.
Documents say about $80,000 and 115 pounds of presumed marijuana were recovered from the apartment.
Investigators interviewed several witnesses and recovered video surveillance that led them to Sams and Lavender, and the third suspect, 36-year-old Raymond Mathis. Sams was seen in the west parking lot area running toward a getaway car carrying one of the plastic bags also found in the apartment.
Video from a camera inside an elevator shows all three men approach the middle elevator. About seven minutes later, Lavender is scene exiting the elevator bleeding. He leaves behind a blood trail. He is then seen running through the front door.
As the investigation progressed, detectives learned from a phone call made by Lavender of the general location of where the suspect vehicle was parked. He said it was near the hospital. Investigators headed that way and searched for the car.
They found a blue Ford Fusion within walking distance to both Washington Hospital Center and Children's Hospital. The car had been hit by gunfire. Detectives eventually tracked down all three men at Children's hospital, where they were arrested.
Sams and Lavender are expected to be back in court on Sept. 27 for a bond hearing. Mathis has not yet made a court appearance.