A judge ordered a Maryland man charged in the nightclub shooting death of a 17-year-old girl to be held at the D.C. jail without bond.
Jamel Mackabee, 19, was arrested by District police at his Silver Spring home Tuesday on charges of first-degree murder while armed in the shooting death of Taleshia Ford at a U Street area nightclub in Northwest Washington.
Mackabee walked into the Smarta/Broadway nightclub, 1919 Ninth St. NW, at about 2:30 a.m. Jan. 20 without paying the cover charge, according to a charging document filed in D.C. Superior Court Tuesday. When a security guard tried to stop Mackabee, the 19-year-old told him, “You touch me, I’m going to shoot you,” the affidavit said. Mackabee then took out a revolver and fired at the security guard, according to police.
The bullet struck Ford in the chest while she was on the dance floor. She was taken to Howard University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Ford was a senior at Booker T. Washington public charter school in Columbia Heights and had worked with the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Institute.
District Council Member Jim Graham is considering emergency legislation to restrict minors from nightclubs where alcohol is served. Smarta/Broadway had been ordered closed temporarily by Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier.
Examiner intern Michael Altman contributed to this report.
