In the late afternoon of September 5, 2023, a violent encounter in a Southwest Washington, D.C. apartment building claimed the life of 32-year-old Matthew Miller. The male victim was fatally shot inside his residence on the 200 block of M Street, SW, in what authorities have described as a robbery attempt. The incident, which unfolded around 4:15 p.m., resulted in a chaotic scene with a total of six people either shot or injured.
Responding to reports of a shooting, Metropolitan Police
Department officers discovered a grim scene within the apartment. Miller had sustained fatal gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man in the apartment was also shot, and a third individual was injured after falling from the building. Both were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The motive for the confrontation appears to be connected to 'drug dealing,' according to a police report.
Shortly after the initial response, three other men arrived at a local hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. An investigation by the Homicide Branch determined that these men were the suspects in the shooting that killed Miller and were injured during the commission of the crime. The three men, identified as 22-year-old Keshawn Lavender, 27-year-old Deandre Sams, and 36-year-old Raymond Mathis, all residents of Southeast, D.C., were arrested and subsequently charged with first-degree felony murder.
A fourth man, 30-year-old Deandre Christian of Fort Washington, MD, was later charged in connection with the events of that day. He faces a charge of assault with intent to kill for allegedly firing a weapon from an apartment balcony in a retaliatory shooting immediately following Miller's murder. All four defendants have been arraigned and have entered pleas of not guilty. Lavender, Sams, and Mathis are scheduled to stand trial in the fall of 2025.
