Two teenage girls, ages 13 and 14, were found guilty Monday in the brutal fatal beating of a 64-year-old D.C. man they did not know before the attack.
A judge found the girls guilty of second-degree murder, assault and conspiracy to commit assault. One of the girls, the 13-year-old, also was found guilty of tampering with physical evidence.
The victim, Reggie Brown, was kicked and stomped to death early on the morning of Oct. 17, 2023, when five girls and a man jumped him in an alley off Georgia Avenue NW, police have said. The adult suspect still has not been identified.
It only took the judge a few minutes to lay out the evidence against the girls in court.
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Brown's sisters were listening intently in the courtroom, as they have for the entire trial. The verdicts left them thankful but wanting more.
"We are pretty much satisfied, but we are also not going to stop until we get justice with this guy who initiated this whole thing with my younger brother," one of Brown's sisters said.
Brown had faced health issues for much of his life, weighing just 110 pounds and missing six fingers due to lupus. He also was battling cancer and liked to take long walks at night, according to his family. He was beaten in an alley after being dragged across Georgia Avenue NW by a man police call "Blue Coat." The man assaulted Brown before the girls asked if they could join in, authorities say.
"Blue Coat" has never been identified, but Brown's sisters have hope he will eventually be found.
The attack on Reggie Brown caught on multiple videos, but a big question remains: Who is 'Blue Coat'?
The attack on Brown was caught on surveillance video as well as cellphone video.
First, "Blue Coat," the man who would attack Brown, "escorted" him across Georgia Avenue NW, a detective said. According to what was caught on numerous cameras in the area, this man was the first person to assault Brown, throwing him against a wall and knocking him to the ground.
Prosecutors say several videos showed a group of girls walking on Georgia Avenue. One girl asked the man if she could "fight him too," according to authorities.
Videos show Brown managing to get up and try to get away. But the girls kicked and stomped on him and then left in a "celebratory" mood, cellphone video from a girl who was not charged showed, the detective said.
When officers arrived at the 6200 block of Georgia Avenue NW, near Rittenhouse Street, Brown was dead.
“My uncle really didn’t deserve this,” a niece of Brown’s said in a statement to News4 after the killing. “He was known in this community for years so for this to happen where he lived for 64 [years] is insane. They have to be held accountable.”
Girls attacked Brown because they were bored, one teen testified
During a monthslong investigation, detectives reviewed videos frame by frame to try to identify the attackers, one detective said.
Three other girls were also charged in the attack and pleaded guilty to charges over the course of the past year:
- The cases of two of the teens were held in juvenile court, with no reporters permitted to attend. It not known what charges they pleaded to.
- The other, who is now 15, pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to three years in a juvenile facility. She testified against the two girls who were found guilty Monday, saying the girls attacked Brown because they were bored.
Of the girls found guilty Monday, one girl is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 4, the other on Dec. 18.
There’s no indication that Brown and the girls knew each other, the detective said.
Brown's sisters say they will work to change the laws in place regarding juveniles. They feel the girls found guilty Monday should get life for taking a life.
