Rashid Caviness-Bey, Second-Degree Murder While Armed, District of Columbia 2011

WASHINGTON – A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for a murder that took place during an attempted armed robbery in Northwest Washington.

Rashid Caviness-Bey, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty in June 2013 by a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia of charges of second-degree murder while armed and carrying a pistol without a license in the slaying of 19-year-old Osman Al-Akbar.

Caviness-Bey was sentenced by the Honorable Lynn Leibovitz. Upon completion of his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to the government’s evidence, on August 17, 2011, at about 1:30 a.m., Osman Al-Akbar bicycled toward his home after visiting his girlfriend’s house. As he was riding home, he talked on his cell phone with his girlfriend.

Caviness-Bey and two teenagers emerged from Girard Park near the 2600 block of University Place NW. They carried two guns and dressed in a manner to conceal themselves. Mr. Al-Akbar encountered Caviness-Bey and the two teenagers in the 2600 block of University Place NW, where they tried to rob him.

During the encounter, Mr. Al-Akbar was shot three times in the back. After he fell to the street, dying, he was shot a fourth time in the face with a second gun. Mr. Al-Akbar died in the street next to his bicycle and personal belongings, which were scattered around him.

Caviness-Bey and the teenagers fled after the shooting. One of the teenagers and Caviness-Bey fled into a dead-end alley behind an apartment building at the corner of 15th and Fuller Streets NW. Along the way, witnesses saw them discard the clothing they had worn to conceal themselves during the robbery.

U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen commended the work of the detectives of the Criminal Investigations Division, crime scene officers, and the Third Police District of the Metropolitan Police Department, and the U.S. Park Police.

Related Federal Cases