KDY Crew Member Echavarria Sentenced to 16 Years for Violent Crime Spree

Azriel Ethan Echavarria, 22, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to 192 months in prison for his role in a string of armed carjackings and violent armed robberies that terrorized the nation’s capital and suburban Maryland in 2022.

Echavarria, a member of the notorious Kennedy Street Crew, also known as KDY, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on January 26, 2024, to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce, conspiracy to commit carjacking, and armed robbery.

According to court documents, Echavarria personally participated in the armed robberies of six individuals, five businesses and/or their employees, and two armed carjackings during the first three months of 2022. His co-conspirators, including Tyrell Jordan Stewart, 26, of Washington, D.C., were also involved in the violent crime spree.

Tyrell Jordan Stewart, a fellow KDY member, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on January 12, 2024, for his role in the same string of carjackings and armed robberies. The coordinated law enforcement investigation into the KDY Crew is ongoing, reflecting the efforts of nearly every federal law enforcement agency in the District of Columbia, along with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Violent Crime Suppression Division.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey and Sitara Witanachchi, as well as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Coley of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves praised the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, saying, “This sentence is a testament to the tireless efforts of our law enforcement partners in bringing these violent criminals to justice.” The 16-year prison term, combined with 60 months of supervised release, is a significant blow to the KDY Crew’s violent activities in the nation’s capital.

The prosecution of Echavarria and his co-conspirators is part of an ongoing Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation, which targets the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States.