Betts murder led to juvenile justice agency's overhaul

The Brian Betts murder and the linking of four of the District’s juvenile justice agency’s wards to the crime shook the political ground under the Mayor Adrian Fenty-supported reform efforts at the troubled agency, eventually leading to the reform’s demise.

The Betts murder was the latest in a string of high-profile crimes allegedly committed by Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services wards. Just two weeks before the Shaw Middle School principal was found shot to death, two other DYRS wards were linked to a mass shooting on South Capitol Street that left four dead and five wounded.