Witness Tells How Teen Was Gunned Down

Here's a story that's been unfolding in the Washington DC area over the past few days:

A witness has given police an account of the terror that
unfolded Friday night when a gunman entered a townhouse in Northwest
Washington and fired seven shots into a 14-year-old girl,
authorities revealed in charging papers yesterday. The gunfire killed
Jahkema Princess Hansen, who was targeted because she was thought to be
a witness to a homicide, authorities said. The girl, known as Princess,
was hit in the neck and chest while in a neighbor's home in the 1100
block of First Terrace, in the Sursum Corda Cooperative complex, where
she was watching television with a 12-year-old friend, according to
police and charging documents. The documents were filed against
Franklin Thompson, 22, who is accused of first-degree murder in
Princess's killing. Thompson was ordered held without bond after a
hearing yesterday in D.C. Superior Court. He shook his head in apparent
dismay as the charge against him was read. According to the charging
papers, investigators are relying on the account of the unidentified
witness who claimed to have seen Thompson enter the home, his face
shrouded and his hand in a pocket as if gripping a gun. The witness
described to investigators what happened next in the home: Sensing that
Thompson was there to make trouble, the witness told of taking cover.
The witness then heard several shots ring out and heard the 12-year-old
victim cry out in pain, according to the papers. After the gunfire, the
witness heard the front door close and looked around. Seeing that
Thompson was gone, the witness then noticed that the 12-year-old girl
had been shot in the leg and that Princess had been shot dead, the
documents say.

The really crazy thing is that this isn't even front page news in the
Washington Post. I guess it's just business as usual in our nation's
capitol.

Posted by flow Frazao on January 27, 2004 at 12:52 PM | Permalink