In the early morning hours of July 7, 2020, the sound of gunshots echoed through the 5000 block of Bass Place in Southeast Washington, D.C. When police arrived at approximately 1:15 a.m., they discovered a grim scene. Inside a vehicle, they found 29-year-old Marquise Lewis and 56-year-old Claudette Williams, both unconscious and suffering from gunshot wounds. A short distance away, 20-year-old Juwan Wade was also found, having been shot.
Emergency medical services responded but could do nothing; all three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Metropolitan Police Department launched a homicide investigation into the triple slaying. Their efforts led to the identification of two suspects. In October 2020, 33-year-old Dale Benjamin of Southeast, D.C., was arrested. He was later joined by a second suspect, 44-year-old Jibri Qayyum, also from Southeast, D.C., who was apprehended in February 2021. Both men were charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed in connection with the deaths of Lewis, Williams, and Wade.
The case against the two men, however, would not proceed to trial. In April 2021, a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed the charges against both Benjamin and Qayyum. The judge cited a lack of sufficient evidence to move forward. During the court proceedings, defense attorneys argued that the prosecution's case was weak, relying on unreliable witnesses and grainy video footage in which the suspects could not be clearly identified. The defense also raised questions about the investigation itself, claiming that information had been withheld and that key witnesses had credibility issues, including allegations that they had stolen items from the crime scene.
Further complicating the prosecution's narrative, a surveillance video reportedly showed a muzzle flash originating from inside the vehicle where Lewis and Williams were found, suggesting the possibility that the initial shots were fired from within the car. The defense argued that this raised serious questions about who the aggressors were in the fatal encounter. With no forensic evidence or clear motive presented that tied the defendants to the scene, the judge dismissed the case, though prosecutors retain the option to refile charges in the future should new evidence emerge. The investigation into the deaths of Marquise Lewis, Claudette Williams, and Juwan Wade officially remains open.
