A Washington DC court has heard horrific details of how five boys allegedly beat a disabled man to death, leaving the 13-year-old girl blamed for delivering the fatal blow to sob.
Police Detective Harry Singleton described at a pretrial hearing Thursday what he witnessed the night of Reggie Brown’s death in October, as well as an interview he conducted with the 13-year-old boy, who he said fatally kicked Brown in the head.
He described the role of the unidentified 13-year-old girl as “the most brutal part of the murder” as she and four of her friends beat the 64-year-old man until he stopped breathing. WUSA 9 reports.
As Singleton spoke, the teenager became emotional and began to cry.
She and three of her friends, all between the ages of 12 and 15, will now face trial for second-degree murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. The fifth girl, 15, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, which prosecutors say was her foot. according to the Washington Post.
Reggie Brown, 64, was allegedly beaten to death by five girls one night in October.
In previous hearings, prosecutors have released cellphone footage captured by at least one of the teens, showing the girls kicking Brown, stomping his head on the pavement, pulling his pants down to his ankles, removing his belt and hitting him with it.
It was also reported that they were shown celebrating afterwards.
Then, at a separate hearing Tuesday, prosecutors also played video from D.C. police homicide headquarters in which Singleton could be seen leading one of the teens and her mother into his office.
In the video, the teen claimed she and four other girls were walking down Georgia Avenue when they saw an unidentified man punching Brown and dragging him by the neck, the Post reports.
She said she and her friends heard the adult man yell at Brown: “I gave you an hour and you didn’t give me my money.”
The teen said one of her friends asked her, “Do you need help? Can we fight him?” at which point the unidentified man ordered the girls to continue fighting Brown and allegedly threatened to kill them if they didn’t.
The unidentified man was caught on video wearing a blue coat, but was never arrested.
The girls allegedly kicked Brown, stomped his head on the pavement, pulled his pants down to his ankles, removed his belt and beat him with it.
They said they were walking down Georgia Avenue that night when they saw an unidentified man punching Brown and dragging him by the neck, and they joined them.
The teen also said she “froze” after seeing Brown start bleeding and stopped kicking him.
She claimed she gave Brown a “gentle kick” in the leg and told Singleton: “I watched him take his last breath.”
But Singleton has since testified that even though the girl claimed the unidentified man threatened her and her friends with a gun if they did not fight Brown, there was no evidence the man had a gun in the video.
The five teens were eventually charged with Brown’s murder in March and have been in custody at the D.C. Department of Juvenile Rehabilitation while they await trial next month.
If convicted, four of the teens could face a maximum penalty of confinement in a Department of Juvenile Rehabilitation facility until they turn 21, after which they would have to be released by law.
It is unclear what sentence the 15-year-old might receive after pleading guilty to the lesser charge.
Brown was battling lupus, an immune system disease that affected her hands and feet, as well as cancer.
Her attorney, Philip Skillman, told Judge Kendra D Briggs on Monday that prosecutors allowed the teen to admit to the lesser charge because she “immediately” took responsibility and “didn’t play as big a role” as the other four.
Prosecutor Gabrielle LoGaglio accepted the plea deal, noting that at the time of the attack, the 15-year-old was also wanted in Maryland in connection with two robberies.
Skillman asked that his client be released and return to live with his mother until his sentencing on Sept. 13, but Briggs denied the request.
Meanwhile, Brown’s family says they want justice for his death.
“They are not children. They are animals and they should be locked away for as long as possible,” Brown’s sister, Nasia Israel, told the Post.
“He was on his way home and his life was taken for nothing,” added his brother, Samuel Brown.
“He didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserved this.”
The family had previously said he was the youngest of seven siblings and was battling lupus, an immune system disease affecting his hands and feet, as well as cancer. He had also lost six fingers.
They say they are now trying to make sure no other family has to experience such a horrific crime.
“Everyone is heartbroken, we’re just trying to get through this,” one of Brown’s sisters told WUSA 9.
“We just don’t want this to happen to another family. We’re not just standing up for Reginald Brown, we’re standing up for all American families,” she added.