WASHINGTON — A D.C. man will spend more than eight years behind bars for shooting and killing a bystander outside a deli in June. The government had asked for 20-year-old Demarcus Barnett to be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Barnett pleaded guilty in August to voluntary manslaughter in the death of 62-year-old Lasanta Qumar McGill on June 8. Barnett said after he was robbed by two people, he chased after them and fired wildly down the sidewalk in the 1900 block of 7th Street Northwest. A bullet struck McGill, who was an innocent bystander. Barnett had initially been charged with second-degree murder while armed.
"It's really everyone's worst nightmare, especially as a councilmember, that someone uses a firearm in my ward, and they hit someone that wasn't even involved in the conflict," Councilmember Brianne Nadeau said in the days following the shooting.
At the time of the shooting. Nadeau said she had been working with government stakeholders including D.C. Police to address concerns in the area where the shooting took place, including issues with substance abuse.
Following his prison sentence, Barnett will serve five years supervised release.