In partial verdict, man found not guilty of 1st-degree murder of teen near DC bus stop

WASHINGTON - A jury has found a D.C. man not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2015 robbery and fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy near a Metro bus stop.

In the partial verdict that was returned by the jury on Wednesday, they did find 22-year-old Derryck Decuir guilty of three firearms charges.

Back on June 16, 2015, 16-year-old Malik Mercer was shot in the neck on 28th Stree tafter he left a Metrobus in Southeast D.C. He was pronounced dead three days later.

Mercer was allegedly shot for a red Versace belt he was wearing.

In the days after Mercer was shot, D.C. police released surveillance video from the Metrobus. It is a crime that infuriated then-Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who held a news conference asking for help in identifying the three men seen in the video getting off the bus.

After the plea from Chief Lanier, police arrested Decuir three days after Mercer was shot.

But during the murder trial the past two weeks, the defense claimed Decuir had no intention of robbing Mercer that night and was only defending himself when the 16-year-old pulled a gun out of a bag he was carrying.

The jury was shown an undated photograph of Mercer with a gun in his lap and a witness took the stand claiming there had been a gun in the bag earlier that night. However, police said no gun was found at the scene.

Now, the jury continues to deliberate on a second-degree murder charge or the possibility of manslaughter against Decuir.