The decision comes after the Jan. 7 shooting of Caron Blake sparked tensions in D.C., as residents, activists and lawmakers pressed for the shooter to be publicly identified and held accountable.
The incident happened shortly before 4 a.m. in the 1000 block of Quincy Street NE, across from Brookland Middle School, where Caron attended.
Authorities said a man who lived down the street told investigators he heard the 13-year-old’s screams and saw the youth and possibly other vehicles breaking into them. Police said two other men appeared to have fled, and there was no indication that Caron had a weapon.
In a statement, Smith said his client maintains his innocence. They described the incident as tragic and said Lewis “dedicated his career to mentoring and supporting young people in the District of Columbia, which adds to how saddened he is by the death of Caron Blake.”
D.C. officials said Lewis had previously been placed on leave from his $75,000-a-year job at the recreation department. Records show that he has been working in the city for the past 17 years.
Police declined to detail what the shooter previously told police about his relationship with Caron or what other evidence they gathered about the confrontation. They would not say how many shots were fired or how many times Caron was hit.
The man shot Caron, called 911 and was administering CPR when police arrived, authorities said. The weapon was legally registered and had a concealed carry permit, they said. Authorities were investigating whether he acted out of fear for his life.
Some activists likened the shooting to vigilantism, and criticized the shooter for killing the unarmed teenager on the grounds that he could be involved in a property crime.
“Black children deserve to live,” Black Swan Academy, a charity that supports local black youth to become civic leaders, said in a statement. “They should be able to make mistakes and learn from them.”
Councilman Robert C. White Jr. (D-at-Large); He tweeted. “I got into a lot of trouble,” he said when he was 13 years old. He made a lot of bad choices. He lived to learn from them. Many of us did. Caron was shot. The family lost a child, and his friends were permanently injured. This cannot be who we are as a city.
DC Police Chief Robert J. Conte III called for patience during the investigation, and was angered by misguided attempts by Internet sleuths to identify the then-unidentified shooter, who, like Caron, was African-American.
D.C. Councilman Zachary Parker, a Ward 5 Democrat, has repeatedly pressed police for more information, including the name of the shooter, including the Brookland neighborhood where Caron was killed.
In an interview earlier this month, Parker said police “left the wound wide open and allowed misinformation to be widely shared.” He previously told The Washington Post, “Based on the facts that have been shared, it seems reasonable to expect that he will be charged.
Recently At a community meeting at the Turkey Ticket Recreation Center near Brookland Middle School, residents took turns expressing their anger at the police. Caron’s grandfather, Shawn Long, told the crowd that his grandson was white, and that the shooter would be arrested immediately.
“I didn’t know you could get a gun permit and shoot someone in a drive-by,” Long said at a community meeting shortly after the shooting. He added, “I’m black. If I had killed a white boy on that street, they would have put me in jail.
This is a developing story and will evolve.