On a cold Sunday evening, January 14, 2018, the life of 14-year-old Steven Slaughter was tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence in Washington, D.C. The ninth-grader at Friendship Collegiate Academy, a boy with dreams of playing college football, was walking home with two friends in the 1700 block of Minnesota Avenue SE, just a block from his own home.
They were returning from a 7-Eleven, having gone out for snacks.
Suddenly, their journey was interrupted in what police later described as an attempted robbery. In a swift and brutal encounter, Steven was shot multiple times. His friends were unharmed, but Steven was gravely wounded. He was rushed to a local hospital, but despite all efforts to save him, he succumbed to his injuries later that evening.
The killing of a promising young student sent shockwaves through the community. Homicide detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department worked diligently on the case. A significant break came about a week after the shooting when patrol officers pursued a vehicle that had been stolen in an armed carjacking. After the vehicle crashed, police discovered the murder weapon and other forensic evidence inside.
This evidence ultimately led investigators to a suspect. On March 5, 2018, 21-year-old Anthony D. Allen of Southeast Washington was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed. Investigators believed at least one other person was involved in the fatal robbery attempt, though it was unclear who pulled the trigger. The items the assailants had hoped to steal from the teenagers remained uncertain.
In December 2018, Anthony Deandre Allen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed and attempted robbery while armed for his role in Steven Slaughter's death. According to the proffer of facts, Allen was driving the stolen car with two armed passengers, and they were looking for people to rob when they came across Steven and his friends. Allen's plea agreement came with a potential sentence of 12 to 24 years for the murder charge and 1.5 to 5 years for the robbery charge.
