WASHINGTON – Alphonso Roberts, 32, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a charge of second-degree murder while armed for killing a man earlier this year outside a public library, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Michael Boxler, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
In another case, Roberts pled guilty earlier this week to a federal firearms offense.
Today’s plea, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, involved the Feb. 10, 2016 slaying of Maurico Walker. It followed a guilty plea on July 18, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to a federal charge of illegal possession of a firearm.
The pleas, subject to approval in their respective courts, call for Roberts to serve a total of 20 years in prison. The plea agreements call for Roberts to be sentenced to 20 years in prison in the murder case and 15 years in the firearms case, to run concurrently. The Honorable Robert E. Morin scheduled sentencing in the murder case for Sept. 16, 2016. The Honorable Reggie B. Walton scheduled sentencing in the firearms case for Oct. 14, 2016.
According to the government’s evidence, the murder took place on Feb. 10, 2016, outside the Anacostia Library, in the 1800 block of Good Hope Road SE. The chain of events began at 4 p.m. in the 2100 block of R Street SE, nearby. The victim, Maurico Walker, 23, and another person had been checking for unlocked car doors in the area. Roberts, who resided nearby, spotted the second person taking items from his Volvo. Roberts confronted the two, and they walked away. Moments later, as Mr. Walker and the second person were walking over the grass lot adjacent to the library Roberts came by in his Volvo. He pulled to the curb, got out of the vehicle, pulled out a handgun and began shooting. Mr. Walker ran back through the lot, but was shot in the back and head and collapsed. He later died from these injuries.
The firearms charge stems from a search conducted on Feb. 25, 2016, at Roberts’s apartment. During the search, officers recovered, among other items, a loaded Glock 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun from the top shelf of a bedroom closet. The gun was not the murder weapon. Roberts, who had an earlier felony conviction, was legally barred from possessing any firearm. He was arrested following the search and has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Special Agent in Charge Boxler, and Chief Lanier commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and ATF’s Firearms Technology Branch. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S Attorney Natalia Medina, who is prosecuting the firearms case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Merikas, who is prosecuting the murder case.
