Man killed in drive-by shooting was linked to DC police conspiracy case

WASHINGTON - A man whose name is linked to a D.C. police corruption case was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Southeast D.C. on Thursday.

Sukarno Turner and his girlfriend Mecca India Tyshea Gravette were getting into a Lyft just after 5 p.m. when a gunman opened fire from another car on First Street nearby Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.

Sources familiar with the investigation said Turner was hit multiple times.

D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said investigators have been able to locate an image of a suspect.

"We have an image of a car I believe is a [Hyundai] sedan that fled from the scene," he said. "It looked like a black male who was wearing a white t-shirt was the passenger in that vehicle and that is all we have at this point in regards to that investigation."

On April 20, Turner's name appeared in an indictment alleging a conspiracy and obstruction of justice involving Ronnika Jennings, a civilian clerk working in the D.C. Police Department's Seventh District station, and three other people.

The indictment claims Jennings was using her password to get into the police department's computers and looking for sensitive information in ongoing criminal investigations. She would then pass that information onto members of the Whaler Place street gang.

Here is how Turner is linked to that case. On Jan. 31, 2017, Turner was found not guilty in D.C. Superior Court on several firearms charges. The indictment said during the trial, a man named Jarrad Child, also known as Heavy, testified on Turner's behalf. He claimed that a gun police said was Turner's was actually his.

In the indictment, prosecutors connected the dots with Turner's case and another man accused of murder named Derek Turner.

In a phone call recorded from the jail, Derek Turner said to an associate: "I'm about to work it the same way 'Heavy' worked it."

Associate: "Who you got?"

Derek Turner: "I got a friend."

Prosecutors allege that friend is Jennings, who was allegedly leaking information to the gang.

On Friday, we asked Chief Newsham if he was concerned someone may be targeting people named in the conspiracy and obstruction of justice case.

"If we think that someone might be in jeopardy as a result of information that we receive, we will most certainly reach out to those folks to make sure that we provide them safety," Newsham said. "We do that on a frequent basis. We receive all kinds of information about people who we believe might be in jeopardy."

Jennings was arrested more than two weeks ago and is being held in DC Jail. Derek Turner is also jailed as his murder case is still ongoing.

D.C. police are searching for the other two people named in the indictment, 26-year-old Marshay Hazelwood and 28-year-old Duan Hill. They are both wanted on a bench warrant for obstruction of justice.