A D.C. Superior Court jury has convicted Demonte Gibson of first-degree murder while armed in the November 2021 shooting death of 34-year-old Delonte King near 14th Street NW in Columbia Heights, rejecting a self-defense claim that Gibson said stemmed from recognizing King from local YouTube videos as someone known for stabbing people. Co-defendants Tre’Quan Nelson and Asani Forte were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder while armed in the same case. The verdicts came after a years-long prosecution that included a hung jury at the first trial and a full retrial that reexamined autopsy findings, surveillance footage, and the defendants' own statements to police.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt presided over both the original trial and the September 2026 retrial, according to DC Witness. As reported by DailyVoice.com, King was killed shortly after 2 p.m. on November 3, 2021, in the 2800 block of 14th Street NW, suffering gunshot wounds to his head and back. The outlet reports that gunfire also wounded a 64-year-old bystander, Allen Hillyer, in the arm about a block from the shooting, and sent a bullet through a third-floor bedroom window at Trinity Towers where two people were inside, though neither was hurt.
Investigation Examined the Shooting
Investigators determined that approximately 25 rounds were fired during the attack, according to DailyVoice.com, though the city's ShotSpotter system reportedly did not initially detect the shooting, according to prosecutors cited by the outlet.
Court records from a May 2023 preliminary hearing showed surveillance footage capturing Gibson and Nelson approaching King near 14th and Girard Streets NW, according to DC Witness. Surveillance footage more broadly became a key piece of the investigation, with prosecutors saying video showed Gibson, Nelson, and Forte together near the scene before the shooting, according to DailyVoice.com, which credited the U.S. Attorney's Office for a surveillance image placing the three men at 1443 Fairmont Street NW.
Gibson's Apartment Search and the Case's Physical Evidence
A search of Gibson's apartment turned up guns, ammunition, a ski mask, and purple jeans, DailyVoice.com reports. Some of the ammunition reportedly had headstamps matching those on .40-caliber shell casings recovered from the murder scene, and the ski mask and jeans appeared to match clothing Gibson was wearing around the time of the shooting, according to prosecutors cited by the outlet.
Gibson, now 28, was arrested in February 2023, with Nelson, 26, arrested the following month and Forte, 29, arrested in April 2023, per DailyVoice.com's reporting. Before the retrial, a D.C. Superior Court jury had already convicted Gibson of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict during the initial trial proceedings in May 2025, while hanging on the remaining murder and conspiracy charges — a split verdict that DC Witness notes helped set up the second trial. DailyVoice.com reported that the first trial ultimately ended with a hung jury in April 2025.
Defense Portrayed King as Physically Threatening
The defense portrayed King as physically threatening, according to DC Witness.
During the September 2026 retrial, Gibson advanced a self-defense theory, while the defense portrayed King as physically threatening, per DC Witness. But prosecutors attacked that theory during late-September rebuttal arguments, pointing out to the jury that Gibson never mentioned self-defense during his initial post-arrest interviews with MPD homicide detectives — a discrepancy DC Witness described as central to undercutting his credibility.
Conspiracy Convictions for Nelson and Forte
Gibson was convicted of first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, malicious destruction of property, and conspiracy, DailyVoice.com reports. Nelson and Forte were each convicted of conspiracy to commit murder while armed. Judge Brandt set Gibson's sentencing for January 8, 2027, according to the outlet, while Nelson and Forte have no announced sentencing dates yet. Koehler Law says a first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison.
A Corridor Still Grappling With Gun Violence
The case closes out a prosecution that stretched nearly five years across two trials, resolving one of Columbia Heights' more closely watched homicide cases. The 14th Street NW corridor where King was killed has continued to see gun violence in the years since, with Hoodline reporting on a September shooting at 14th and Fairmont NW that injured a man, part of citywide crime data showing D.C. assaults with a dangerous weapon surged roughly 40 percent year-over-year even as overall homicides dropped. Hoodline also documented a late-night barrage of more than 20 shots near the same intersection on March 31, 2026, with reports of its aftermath published April 1, underscoring persistent public safety concerns in the neighborhood even as this long-running case reaches its conclusion.
