Amard Jefferson, 26, from Ft. Washington, MD, was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Kendall Brown in August 2021. He also received penalties for obstruction of justice, including attempting to manipulate his girlfriend into taking responsibility for the crime. The sentence followed a guilty verdict on December 20, 2024. Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt ordered Jefferson's imprisonment and a three-year supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Jefferson shot Ms. Brown "without cause or justification" after a verbal dispute when she and others visited his girlfriend's apartment to collect belongings. He was not initially involved in the argument but later brandished a firearm. The incident occurred at an apartment on the 3000 block of Nelson Place, Southeast. Jefferson fled the scene, leaving the victim locked in the apartment, and hid the ghost gun in a nearby drainpipe, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Jefferson attempted to avoid legal consequences by involving his girlfriend in fabricating a false narrative through phone calls and texts from the D.C. Department of Corrections. At the trial's conclusion, the work of the Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Attorney's Office was recognized. Key contributors included Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bryan Han, Colleen Kukowski, Emily Clark, and Stephanie Dinan, along with paralegal specialists Sharon Newman, Meredith McGarrity, Lashone Samuels, Lisa Minott, and other investigative staff.
