A Superior Court jury has found 51-year-old Wali Shabazz guilty of voluntary manslaughter while armed and carrying a dangerous weapon in the fatal stabbing of his co-worker outside Audi Field, more than two years after the killing disrupted a bike valet stand just before a D.C. United match. The victim, 41-year-old Martin Gross Jr., died after being stabbed 12 times during a confrontation that began over a late arrival to work.
According to WJLA, the stabbing happened during the evening of April 27, 2024, at a bike valet service near the corner of T and Second streets Southwest, just before the soccer match got underway. Shabazz and Gross were both scheduled to work that shift, according to DC News Now, which reported the pair were on duty for the bike valet operation outside the stadium ahead of the game. Court records reviewed by DC Witness identify the company as Bike Valet DMV.
A Late Arrival Sparks a Deadly Confrontation
Prosecutors said Gross arrived very late for his shift and tried to apologize to the other valets, but the disruption led the bike valet owner to dismiss him from working that night, the station's report states. Per the same account, Gross then called Shabazz names and got in his face before jabbing at him with his fists, knocking off his composure in the moments before the attack turned lethal.
Shabazz responded by pulling out a sharp object believed to be a knife and stabbing Gross repeatedly, knocking him to the ground, according to the outlet. Gross ultimately suffered 12 stab wounds to the chest and torso, a toll confirmed separately by an autopsy that found the wounds were mainly concentrated in the torso area, per DC Witness. Gross died from his injuries, and Shabazz was arrested at the scene, the report notes. Despite the chaos outside, the D.C. United game itself was not canceled and went on as scheduled.
Self-Defense Argument Rejected by Jury
At trial, Shabazz's defense argued he acted in lawful self-defense because he believed Gross posed a threat to him. “Mr. Shabazz is innocent… [he] acted as the law allows each and every one of us,” his attorney told jurors, according to DC Witness. Prosecutors countered that the force Shabazz used was excessive, a characterization the outlet reported directly from the courtroom.
The jury ultimately sided with prosecutors on the manslaughter charge rather than accepting the self-defense argument outright, convicting Shabazz of voluntary manslaughter while armed and of carrying a dangerous weapon, as detailed by Daily Voice. Earlier arrest-stage reporting from WJLA had listed Shabazz's age as 49 when he was first taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder while armed, while coverage of this week's conviction lists him as 51; the discrepancy in his age between the two periods of reporting has not been resolved.
Sentencing Set for November
Shabazz is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13, according to WJLA's reporting on the verdict. No further details on the potential sentence or any custody determination following the conviction have been reported.
