The 20-year-old District man accused of killing a taxi driver over the weekend had escaped from the custody of the city’s troubled Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services, and evidence from the crime was found at the home of his aunt — who is a counselor for the agency — according to sources and court documents. Rashad Terrell Slye was charged Sunday with first-degree murder in the slaying of Prince George’s County cab driver Domingo Ezirike. The 40-year-old was found fatally shot in his cab by D.C. police detectives working a safety compliance checkpoint two blocks away in Northeast Washington.
A law enforcement source familiar with the case told The Washington Examiner that Slye had absconded from a group home in Southeast Washington late last month and the city was looking for him at the time of the murder early Saturday morning.
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According to court documents, Slye called his aunt, DYRS counselor Charlene Slye-Battle, nine times during his encounter with the cab driver. Police said they found Slye’s jacket and the cell phone he used to make those calls inside Battle’s home, which is on the same block as the killing. The cabbie’s wallet was found outside the rear of Slye-Battle’s home, court documents said.
D.C. Department of Youth and Rehabilitative Services Chief of Staff Chris Shorter said he is prohibited by D.C. from discussing the cases involving juveniles. He said Slye-Battle worked at the agency, helping youth and their families as they move away from the custody of DYRS.
Reached by phone Monday evening, Slye-Battle confirmed that she is the suspect’s aunt, but declined further comment.
The agency has been under scrutiny over the past year-and-a-half as more than 10 juveniles who were supposed to be under the watch of DYRS were accused of murder and at least a half-dozen were slain.
A teen was arrested last week in the fatal Petworth playground stabbing of another teen — who had escaped custody of the youth agency.
The detective who discovered Ezirike’s body slumped over in the taxi had encountered the cabbie, Slye and another passenger less than 30 minutes earlier, court documents describe.
As Ezirike drove through the safety checkpoint in the 4500 block of Quarles Street NE, the detective leaned down and asked the cabbie to buckle his seatbelt. Ezirike nodded and smiled, and the detective looked into the passenger seat and nodded at Slye and another unidentified person in the cab, the court documents said.
Those charging documents offer the following account:
Ezirike drove to the 1500 block of Anacostia, where witnesses heard him and Slye arguing. Witnesses said Slye was angry about the fare and demanded his money back.
Slye got out of the cab, pulled out a silver handgun, ordered Ezirike to lay on the ground, and rifled through his pockets. He then struck him in the head, and pulled the trigger but it did not fire.
The cab driver pleaded with the suspect, and the suspect ordered him back into the cab.
As the Ezirike sat in the driver’s seat, the suspect fired a single shot, and the cabbie fell back into this seat, according to the court documents.
