WASHINGTON — On Friday, Reggie Brown's 90-year-old mother sat in the courtroom surrounded by daughters, her granddaughter, and her great-granddaughter while listening to testimony from DC Police Detective Steven Hines and two others.
Brown was found beaten to death on the night of Oct. 17, 2023, in the 6200 block of Georgia Avenue Northwest. Five teenage girls are facing several charges, including second-degree murder, in connection with his death.
Brown's mother took a moment to reflect before explaining how she felt in the courtroom on Friday.
"I feel sad," she said. "They're kids... but they're going to have to give these kids some tough love. They got to have it in order to save them because right now, Satan has them."
Brown's family has said in the past that it wants the girls to be tried as adults, but because they are minors, they are being tried in juvenile court and not being identified.
Judge Kendra Briggs has also asked reporters covering this case not to disclose any information that would identify the girls, their families, their medical history, or their schools.
Malda Brown is one of Reggie's older sisters who has been in the courtroom all week. She has been vehemently outspoken about what justice will look like for her family.
"All of them should be held, and I mean accountable," she explained. "All we want is fairness. As long as this thing goes fair, then it will be a good day for America."
Family members have expressed disdain for the teenage girls this week, calling for consequences.
"As long as they can hide behind that they're young, they're going to continue to do this and it's going to hurt other families," said Malda, "we want accountability. We want everybody to be held accountable for what they did to him, and what it's going to do is send a message that you cannot go around here and continue to do this because you're young."
Reggie's mother just hopes that the community remembers her son and how loved he is.
"Everybody knows him because he's like a fixture on Georgia Avenue and everybody was just so shocked and surprised what happened to him," she explained. "People still just don't understand why these kids at this time of night are out and just having to take his life."
She tells WUSA9 that Reggie was "real strong." He battled lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease, but beat cancer and COVID-19.
The trial for two of the teenagers is expected to start in early September.