On Monday, a jury found two teenage girls, ages 13 and 14, guilty of brutally and fatally beating a 64-year-old D.C. man they did not know before the attack.
A judge convicted the girls of second-degree murder, assault, and conspiracy to conduct assault. The court also found one of the girls, who was 13 years old, guilty of tampering with physical evidence.
Authorities said that five girls and a guy jumped Reggie Brown in an alley off Georgia Avenue NW, kicking and stomping him to death early on the morning of October 17, 2023. Authorities have yet to identify the adult suspect.
The judge took only a few minutes to present the evidence against the females in court.
Brown’s sisters listened intently in the courtroom, as they had throughout the trial. The verdicts left them grateful 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,” said one of Brown’s sisters.
Brown had health challenges for most of his life, weighing only 110 pounds and missing six fingers due to lupus. He was also battling cancer and enjoyed going on lengthy walks at night, according to his relatives. A man known as “Blue Coat” carried him across Georgia Avenue NW and pummeled him in an alley. According to authorities, the man assaulted Brown before the females begged to join in.
Brown’s sisters are still hopeful that they will find “Blue Coat” despite his lack of recognition.
The attack on Reggie Brown caught on multiple videos, but a big question remains: Who is ‘Blue Coat’?
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The attack on Brown was caught on both surveillance and cellphone video.
First, the man who would attack Brown, “Blue Coat,” “escorted” him across Georgia Avenue NW, according to a detective. Multiple cameras in the area captured footage of this individual being the first to assault Brown, pushing him into a wall and knocking him to the ground.
Prosecutors claim multiple cameras show a group of girls heading along Georgia Avenue. According to officials, one youngster approached the man and asked if she could “fight him too.”
Videos show Brown getting up and attempting to flee. According to the investigator, the females kicked and stomped on him before leaving in a “celebratory” mood, as evidenced by a cellphone video from a girl who was not charged.
When authorities arrived at the 6200 block of Georgia Avenue NW, near Rittenhouse Street, Brown had died.
“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 months-long investigation, police scrutinized the review frame by frame to identify the perpetrators, according to one detective.
In the past year, three more girls faced charges related to the attack and entered guilty pleas:
- 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.
The sentencing date for one of the females found guilty on Monday is December 4, and the date for the other is December 18.
The detective found no evidence Brown and the girls knew each other.
Brown’s sisters say they will try to amend the laws that currently apply to juveniles. They believe that the females found guilty on Monday should receive a life sentence in prison for murder.