Source: Office of United States Attorneys
WASHINGTON – U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced that Erwin Dubose, Kamar Queen, Damonta Thompson, William Johnson Lee, and Mussay Rezene, all of Washington, D.C., and Toyia Johnson, of Rockville, MD, were found guilty today in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on all charges for the September 4, 2021 Labor Day weekend murders of 31-year-old Donetta Dyson, 24 year-old Keenan Braxton, and 37-year-old Johnny Joyner in front of 633 Longfellow Street, NW.
On July 3, 2025, a jury found Dubose, Queen, Johnson Lee and Thompson guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, three counts of first-degree murder while armed with aggravating circumstances, and three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. The jury found defendant Johnson guilty of tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory after the fact to assault with intent to kill while armed. The jury found defendant Rezene guilty of tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory after the fact to first degree murder while armed.
“This senseless violence will not be tolerated in this city,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. “These thugs put innocent bystanders in harm’s way, proving their total inhumanity. Today’s verdict upholds the DC U.S. Attorney’s Office’s efforts to stop these horrific crimes and we look forward to taking these criminals out of society for a significant amount of time.”
According to the government’s evidence, at approximately 7:33 p.m., on September 4, 2021, Thompson drove Dubose, Queen and Johnson Lee, to the 600 block of Longfellow Street, NW. Those three men got out of the vehicle, crept to the corner of Longfellow and 7th Streets, NW, and began indiscriminately shooting into a neighborhood gathering. The three shooters ran back to the waiting vehicle Thompson was driving and fled the scene. The three victims, Ms. Dyson, Mr. Braxton and Mr. Joyner, were killed and another three victims sustained non-lethal gunshot wounds from the shooting.
Shortly after the homicide, an associate of Dubose, Toyia Johnson, who rented the vehicle Thompson was driving at the time of the incident, began placing multiple 911 calls in which she falsely reported the suspect vehicle stolen. Shortly after midnight on September 6, 2021, Dubose and Rezene drove to the 4500 block of Eads Street, NE and set fire to the vehicle. The evidence established that triple homicide was in retaliation for a shooting that occurred an hour prior in the 800 block of Oglethorpe Street, NE.
Joining the announcement was Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Pirro and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. Finally, they acknowledged the work of Assistant United States Attorneys Colleen Kukowski and Charles R. Jones, who prosecuted the case.