A Maryland man and three D.C. residents were convicted Monday after prosecutors said a street crew’s retaliatory gun mission ended with the killing of an innocent man in Southeast Washington. The victim, Mark Milline Jr., was walking while looking at his phone when the gang members opened fire.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said a federal jury convicted Markquette Rajon Cowan, Christopher Jordan Broady, Joshua Nicholas Stephenson and Larry Duncan after a four-week trial and three days of deliberation. Cowan, 27, is from Maryland, while the other three defendants are Washington residents.
Milline was killed on May 9, 2019, in the 800 block of Xenia Street SE, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The department’s original homicide notice sought information about the shooting, which occurred as the case’s broader gang and drug operation was still unfolding.
Prosecutors Say The Crew Was Hunting Rivals
According to Daily Voice’s account of trial evidence, Duncan supplied a vehicle and asked for volunteers to “spin the block,” slang for driving into rival territory to carry out a shooting. Stephenson drove while Cowan and Broady searched for a target, then Broady allegedly chased Milline after he collapsed and fired several more shots while standing over him.
The four men were members of the “Push Dat Sh*t,” or PDS, crew, which prosecutors said operated an open-air marijuana and oxycodone market around the Holiday Market in Congress Heights. The U.S. Department of Justice said the group used coded terms such as “eggs” for ammunition and “dogs,” “irons” and “joints” for firearms while protecting its drug territory and tracking violence against rival crews.
Sentencing Starts In November
Milline was shot 13 times with RIP ammunition and had no crew affiliation, according to prosecutors. The broader investigation has produced 30 convictions and led to the seizure of 47 firearms, including six machine guns, more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition, over 100 pounds of marijuana, cocaine base, oxycodone pills and approximately $581,000 in cash.
Each defendant faces a mandatory minimum of 30 years for the murder convictions and a possible life sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13 for Broady, Nov. 20 for Cowan, Dec. 3 for Stephenson and Dec. 4 for Duncan before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
