Tuesday, May 7, 2024

17-Year-Old Charged as an Adult

            WASHINGTON – Saki Frost, 17, of Washington, D.C., was charged by complaint yesterday as an adult in D.C. Superior Court on the charges of assault with intent to murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed, stemming from a shooting that occurred on May 3, 2024, near Dunbar High School. Frost’s codefendant, Azhari Graves, 18, was charged on May 4, 2024, with assault with intent to kill while armed and assault with a dangerous weapon.  Both defendants have also been charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.  The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.  Both defendants are held without bond pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 28, 2024.

            According to the government’s evidence, on May 3, 2024, at approximately 9:53 am, Graves and Frost opened fire on a sedan that was driving down Kirby Street NW, near Dunbar High School. A witness to the shooting reported hearing machine gun fire. Surveillance video captures Frost and Graves running down an alleyway holding firearms prior to the shooting.  Surveillance video also captures the shooting, in which an individual appearing to be Frost fires a gun toward the sedan.  Surveillance footage also captures Graves after the shooting holding a firearm with the slide locked to the rear of the weapon, indicating that the weapon had been fired. Graves and Frost then fled the area in a vehicle. Later that day, MPD officers located the defendants’ vehicle and arrested Graves and Frost. Investigators recovered a total of 29 shell casings from the scene of the shooting and numerous fragments from the exterior of Dunbar High School as well as classrooms inside the school.  Investigators also observed at least six bullet strikes to the N Street side of Dunbar. During the shooting, one Dunbar student suffered a graze wound to the head from the gunfire. 

            This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Helfand of the Major Crimes Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

            A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.