Source: Office of United States Attorneys
WASHINGTON – Aniq-Kai Covington, 16, of Washington, D.C., was charged as an adult (under Title 16) on February 11, 2025, in Superior Court with armed carjacking in connection with an August 13, 2024 incident in Southeast D.C. The charge was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
According to documents filed in court, on August 13, 2024, at approximately 9:15 p.m., police officers were dispatched to the 2700 block of 31st Street S.E., where they located the victim of an armed carjacking. The victim told the officers that at least two suspects approached the victim, who was sitting in their vehicle waiting for a family member. One suspect approached the victim’s driver’s side door and pointed a firearm at the victim, ordering the victim to get out of the vehicle. Another suspect attempted to open the victim’s passenger door. The victim complied and got out of the car. The first suspect then demanded money and took the victim’s wallet and cell phone, before the suspects fled northbound on 31st Street, SE in the victim’s car. The victim borrowed a phone from a family member and called 911.
The victim’s vehicle was located in the 2500 block of High Street S.E., stationary and unoccupied, just before 9:30 p.m., approximately 15 minutes after police were dispatched to the scene of the carjacking. The victim’s vehicle was forensically processed, and a latent fingerprint recovered from the interior passenger’s side door handle was later determined to belong to Covington.
Covington was presented in court yesterday and ordered detained. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 14, 2025.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Winer is prosecuting the case.
These charges are merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.