D.C. man gets 47 years for deadly shooting into apartment complex

Published January 20, 2012 5:00am ET



A District man was sentenced to 47 years in prison in the deadly shooting of a bystander caught in the crossfire and the wounding of two others.

Prosecutors said Kerstan Leonard, 30, was a drug dealer in the Stanton Glenn apartment complex in Southeast Washington when he participated in the shooting into a nearby apartment building occupied by his rivals.

Melody Williams, 41, a nursing assistant at a facility for the elderly, was killed after a bullet struck her in the back. Her nieces were also struck by the gunfire but survived.

None of the gunmen’s intended targets were shot.