WASHINGTON — The courtroom was silent Monday as prosecutors played a terrifying video. Five men drive up in a stolen Infiniti and open fire in every direction. In twenty seconds, they blast 50 gunshots, killing a little girl and wounding four other people who were outside, enjoying a warm July night in 2018.
It's been four-and-a-half years since the death of 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson, who was shot and killed returning to her Northeast, D.C. home from an ice cream truck. A trial began Monday for six men accused of conspiracy and murder in her death.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Merikas began her opening statement with a silent, but heart-stopping, video.
"That evening, the court erupted in violence because of them," the prosecutor said, pointing at the six defendants crowded into separate tables.
Makiyah's mother was inside, but eventually got the door open, and the wounded people all "tumbled into her home in a bloody heap," Merikas told jurors. Makiyah's big sister picked her up and saw "the gaping hole in her chest."
"She wouldn't let go of her hand, even as they started chest compression," the prosecutor told jurors. "Makiyah Wilson was shot in the heart and died on her mother's doorstep!"
Police say the Wellington Park gang are affiliates of the "Glizzy Murder Crew," which has adopted the G from the Glock gun logo as its own. They say the crew shot up Clay Terrace in a long-running feud over drug turf and perceived slights.
But prosecutors will have to prove the case against each individual defendant: Qujuan Thomas, Quentin Michals, Marquell Cobbs, Darrise Jeffers, Isiah Murchison, and Gregory Taylor; the man range from 21 to 26 years old.
"They're pandering to fear because of lack of evidence," Taylor's lawyer, Jonathan Zucker, told jurors. "My client's a rapper. He's on Shy Glizzy's recording label. We're not running from that. There's not any direct evidence Greg Taylor shot anyone, or ordered anyone to shoot anyone."
With six defendants and all their lawyers, the case has been moving at a crawl. Judge Robert Okun has warned jurors the trial could last as long as three months.
Prosecutors told jurors they will hear from the man who carjacked the Infiniti. They say he was at the center of the plot, but has struck a deal with the US Attorney's Office to testify against the six defendants.