13-year-old girl sentenced to 7 years for 2023 beating death of DC man

A young teenager will spend the next seven years behind bars for her role in the beating death of a frail D.C. man on a street in Northwest last year. The 13-year-old was sentenced Wednesday. In court, she apologized before she was ordered held until her 21st birthday.

WASHINGTON - A young teenager will spend the next seven years behind bars for her role in the beating death of a frail D.C. man on a street in Northwest last year.

The 13-year-old was sentenced Wednesday. In court, she apologized before she was ordered held until her 21st birthday.

All five girls involved in the beating death of 64-year-old Reggie Brown, a D.C. man who family says suffered from multiple disabilities and was battling to beat cancer, were between the ages of 12 and 15 when they committed the crime in October 2023.

Despite their age, the girls are all being held accountable for the shocking and brutal crime. Two of them were found guilty of second-degree murder by a judge last month.

The attack happened near Georgia Ave., NW, around 1 a.m. on Oct. 17, 2023. Prosecutors said the five teen girls targeted Brown at random, punching and kicking him to death as he was walking home.

According to evidence, Brown was left lying on his back with multiple lacerations and contusions. His pants were pulled off, and his shoes were removed. The medical examiner ruled that his death was due to blunt force trauma.

Two of the murder victim's sisters, Nasia Israel and Malda Brown, spoke after the 13-year-old was sentenced Wednesday.

"It saddens me that these young girls could be so brutal and do something so severe," Malda Brown said. "I’m just grateful that the judge did give them the time that D.C. commits until to 21, so we are grateful for that. It’ll make my mom feel so much better once we get home to let her know that that did take place."

Brown says she believes the laws should change so that juveniles convicted of violent crimes like the murder of her brother could be sentenced to life in prison and the family remains critical of the job being done by the city's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

"DYRS is letting these kids back out with no consequences in and out the door and get slapped on the wrist and come back out and do the same thing again. Committing more violent crimes? I mean it's sad that our children have to be incarcerated but it's also sad that the danger that they pose to the community — what they do to people and the things that they do to people," Nasia Israel said. "My brother didn't deserve that. Nobody deserves that."

One of the teenage girls who plead guilty to the beating death of Brown and was sentenced to three years behind bars testified at trial the girls were bored that night.

One of the accused videotaped and shared on social media the attack on Brown.

"I had a nonprofit organization for three decades and I started out helping inner-city kids. I don’t do the work anymore because I’m scared of the kids," Malda Brown said.

A man who started and participated in the beating of Brown around 1 a.m. that night has not yet been identified, arrested or charged in this case.

Two of the other girls who participated in the beating death will be sentenced later this month.

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