Do you know who killed Brian Tyrell Butler in 2019? On the evening of November 21, 2019, in the Woodland neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C., violence shattered the night, leaving a community to mourn the loss of one of their own. Inside a residence in the 2300 block of Ainger Place SE, 33-year-old Brian Tyrell Butler, a Black male, was shot multiple times. Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to reports of the shooting at approximately 8:30 p.m. and discovered Butler suffering from grave injuries.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but despite all life-saving efforts, he succumbed to his wounds and was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the homicide moved swiftly, and within weeks, authorities identified a suspect. On December 4, 2019, members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 22-year-old Diquan Lucas of Northeast Washington, D.C. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder while armed in connection with the fatal shooting of Brian Butler.
In the ensuing legal process, the case against Diquan Lucas moved through the court system. At one point, prosecutors offered Lucas a plea deal that would have allowed him to plead guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed, with a recommended sentence of eight to nine-and-a-half years in prison. However, in June 2021, Lucas rejected this offer, opting instead to proceed toward trial on the original charge. The community continues to await the final resolution of a case that tragically cut short the life of Brian Tyrell Butler.
