FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Defendant Shot Victim in Back After Confrontation Over Drug Sales to Victim’s Father

            WASHINGTON – Shaka Haltiwanger, 24, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and related charges stemming from the brazen mid-morning killing of Anthony Kelley in the lobby of an apartment building in Southeast Washington.  The sentenced was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Acting Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            A jury found Haltiwanger guilty on March 22, 2023. In addition to the 24-year prison term, the Honorable Rainey Brandt ordered three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, just before 11:30 a.m. on September 10, 2021, 39-year old Anthony Kelley arrived at his father’s apartment building at 1400 29th Street SE, to take his father—who had suffered a stroke and could not drive—to the grocery store. When Mr. Kelley entered his father’s apartment, he found Haltiwanger on the living room couch.   Haltiwanger had been regularly selling crack cocaine to Mr. Kelley’s father. Mr. Kelley confronted Haltiwanger and physically removed him from the apartment. Haltiwanger and Mr. Kelley continued to argue in the hallway and stairwell of the apartment building until Mr. Kelley separated himself and began to walk away toward the building’s front door. Haltiwanger then removed a 9 mm “ghost gun,” equipped with a 50-round magazine drum, from his backpack and shot Mr. Kelley once in the back. The gun jammed after the first shot, and Haltiwanger fled the scene. Haltiwanger and others then proceeded to call multiple eyewitnesses to the shooting more than a dozen times using blocked phone numbers while the eyewitnesses were speaking to law enforcement on scene.

            Haltiwanger was arrested for the murder of Mr. Kelley on September 30, 2021, and has been in custody since. At the time of the murder, Haltiwanger was on pretrial release for a pending gun and drug case in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Acting Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI CAST team. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Donovan, Deputy Chief of the Homicide Section, and Dan Lenerz of the Appellate Section; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Victim/Witness Advocate Jennifer Allen; Victim/Witness Security Specialists Robert Cephas, Marlon Hernandez, and Lesley Slade; Supervisory Victim/Witness Service Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington; Paralegal Specialists Meridith McGarrity and Grazy Rivera; and Supervisory Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling.  

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Kimak and Charles R. Jones, who investigated and prosecuted the case.