On a spring afternoon in Washington, D.C., 26-year-old Devonte Speight was fatally shot in what police described as a botched attempt to steal his dirt bike. The incident occurred on April 29, 2020, in the 1800 block of Maryland Avenue NE, in the Carver-Langston neighborhood. Witnesses reported that suspects demanded Speight stop, and when he appeared to ride away, one of the individuals fired three times.
Speight, a resident of Northwest Washington, was struck by gunfire and later died at a hospital.
The investigation into the homicide led to the swift arrests of three individuals on the same day as the shooting. Authorities charged 24-year-old Derrick Kearney of Southeast D.C., and 24-year-old Daquan Anglin of Laurel, Maryland, with first-degree murder while armed. A 16-year-old male from Southeast D.C. was also arrested and charged as a juvenile. Court documents revealed that the suspects had been driving around in a stolen Jeep Cherokee, looking for a dirt bike to steal. After the shooting, they fled in the Jeep, but a D.C. police vehicle spotted them. Following a pursuit that ended near the Maryland line, two suspects were apprehended in an apartment building, and another was arrested on the street. Nearly a month later, on May 28, 2020, a fourth suspect, a 15-year-old male from Northeast D.C., was arrested and also charged with first-degree murder while armed.
In February 2022, two of the men charged, Daquan Anglin and Derrick Kearney, both 26 at the time, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors recommended a sentence of six to eleven years in prison for Anglin and eight-and-a-half to eleven years for Kearney. Members of Devonte Speight's family were expected to be present for the sentencing hearing, which was scheduled for May of that year.
