Two street gang members were sentenced to 32 years in prison for killing a rival during a rush-hour traffic jam. Deandre Rogers, 20, and Deon T. Jenkins, 27, were convicted in August of first-degree murder while armed and other charges in the death of 28-year-old William Foster, a leader in the Todd Place Crew.
The April 2008 slaying sparked a spate of gang shootings in Northeast Washington during that spring between the Yellow Brick Road Crew of T Street and the Todd Place Crew.
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And new evidence made public in court filings indicate that the gun used in Foster’s slaying was used three days earlier in the high-profile killing of a witness in a vast passport- and identity-theft ring that may have involved a State Department employee.
According to authorities, Foster, also known as “Boo,” was driving a van through the unit block of R Street NE and taunting rival crew members, at about 4:50 p.m.
Jenkins saw Foster and ordered Rogers to kill him.
Foster stepped out of a burgundy Lexus and ran up to the van as Foster sat trapped in traffic at R and North Capitol streets. Rogers fired 12 rounds from a Glock .45 semiautomatic pistol and fled.
Earlier this year, four members of the Todd Place Crew were convicted of charges stemming from the retaliatory violence that unfolded following Foster’s murder.
“This case shows why targeting gang violence is such a priority for our office. The defendants in this case killed a man in broad daylight on a busy city street, and their gunfire set off even more bloodshed,” said U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen.
According to court filings, Jenkins might be connected to the unsolved April 17, 2008, slaying of a witness in a federal passport- and identity-theft ring.
The killing of Lt. Q. Harris Jr. garnered headlines because he was found dead in a car about a month after he had agreed to testify against members of the illegal operation. In March 2008, during a routine traffic stop, police caught Harris with a stack of credit cards and printouts of eight passport applications. Harris told investigators that he was working with a person who worked for the State Department, and the crew used the passport information to obtain fraudulent credit cards.
Harris was friends with Jenkins, and the gun used to kill Harris was the same gun used three days later to kill Williams, prosecutors said.
According to a law enforcement source, authorities have not ruled out Harris’ death as being connected to the passport case.
