District Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Killing Store Employee in Robbery of Northeast Washington Food Mart

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, December 10, 2021

District Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Killing Store Employee in Robbery of Northeast Washington Food Mart

Defendant Also Sentenced to 180 Days for Attacking Inmate at Jail

            WASHINGTON – Demetrius Pierce, also known as Orlando Little, was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for fatally shooting an employee of a Northeast Washington food mart during an early-morning robbery in November 2018, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Pierce, 35, of Washington, D.C., also was sentenced to an additional 180 days of incarceration for stabbing another inmate last year at the District of Columbia Jail.

            Pierce pleaded guilty in September 2021, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to second-degree murder while armed. He also pleaded guilty to simple assault and attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, both misdemeanors, for the attack at the jail. He was sentenced by the Honorable Milton C. Lee. Following his prison term, Pierce will be placed on five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Nov. 3, 2018, shortly after 6 a.m., Pierce entered the food mart in the 900 block of Brentwood Road NE. At the time, store employee Nazir Ahmad was in a rear area of the store, away from the cash register. Pierce went behind the counter to the cashier area and unplugged and removed the cash register. As Mr. Ahmad returned to the cashier area, he saw Pierce, raised his hands, and began to back up. Mr. Ahmad retreated to the employee area, which has a door that shuts. However, Pierce shot through the door. Pierce then fired another shot at the front door of the mart as he left with the cash register.

            Mr. Ahmad, 68, was taken to a hospital but died a short time later. The D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined he died from gunshot wounds to the left shoulder and leg.

            Pierce was arrested on Nov. 26, 2018 and has been in custody ever since.

            While incarcerated at the D.C. Jail, on Dec. 5, 2020, Pierce approached another inmate, who was seated in a television room, and stabbed him multiple times in the torso.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the work of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Conte. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Prava Palacharla and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Puja Bhatia, who prosecuted the murder case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Bartz, who prosecuted the jail attack.