Grieving family pushes for adult charges against 3 DC teens accused in deadly beating
DC teens accused of fatally beating 64-year-old should be charged as adults, family says
A 12-year-old girls and two 13-year-old girls are charged with fatally beating 64-year-old Reggie Brown in DC last October. FOX 5's Shomari Stone spoke with the victim's family, and they want the kids to be charged as adults. In D.C., however, children under the age of 15 can not be charged as an adult.
WASHINGTON - A 12-year-old girl and two 13-year-old girls are behind bars, accused of beating 64-year-old Reggie Brown to death in October 2023.
The suspects appeared in a juvenile courtroom over the weekend on charges of second-degree murder.
Reggie Brown’s family told FOX 5's Shomari Stone exclusively they want the teens charged as adults. They're outraged that the three girls are being charged as juveniles.
Brown’s family said the 64-year-old had recently battled cancer and was frail.
Residents in the Northwest neighborhood Brown lived in told FOX 5 he was peaceful and sometimes asked people for money.
The night he was killed, his family says he was walking back to an apartment he shared with his sister when a man and the three girls randomly ran into Brown and allegedly attacked him.
It happened on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, around 1 a.m.
"They should be charged as adults because they knew what they were doing," Brown's sister told FOX 5. "They do adult things, they should be treated as adults."
"You should have your children at home getting ready for school at that time of night," she added.
A relative of the 12-year-old suspect said that she lived with one of the 13-year-old suspects inside an apartment on the 500 block of Peabody Street NW – near where Brown was killed.
Police sources confirmed with FOX 5 that four armed suspects broke into the apartment early Friday morning; one fired three shots at the 12-year-old while she was sleeping.
The suspects tussled and ran away. The 12-year-old was shot in the leg and survived, the sources said.
Police arrested the 12-year-old and the 13-year-old.
The other 13-year-old was arrested a day before her alleged accomplice.
The Office of the Attorney General says they can’t comment on why the girls are not charged as adults because they are juveniles.
Typically, D.C. law prohibits children under 15 years old from being charged as adults.