Shamell Joyner, Armed Carjacking, Washington 2023

Washinton DC – In a shocking series of crimes, Shamell Joyner, 35, of Washington DC, has been charged with armed carjacking and multiple robberies that left a store employee injured.

According to the court records, Joyner allegedly committed an armed carjacking on April 13, 2023, and eight robberies of commercial establishments between April 12 and May 2, 2023, in Northeast and Northwest Washington, as well as in Alexandria, Virginia, and Hanover, Maryland.

As alleged in the complaint, Joyner brandished a firearm during all of the robberies and discharged a firearm during the April 12 armed robbery of a Northwest Washington gas station and the April 17 armed robbery of an Alexandria, Virginia convenience store. A store employee working at the time of the Alexandria robbery sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his leg.

Joyner is also alleged to have carjacked a man at gunpoint in the Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood on April 13, and used that car to commit subsequent armed robbery offenses. On May 2, 2023, Joyner robbed a Hanover, Maryland gas station at gunpoint, stole a station employee’s vehicle, and was later found in the stolen vehicle’s driver’s seat by the Metropolitan Police Department.

At the time of his arrest, Joyner was in possession of a firearm used in several of the robberies, as well as clothing and other evidence that tied him to numerous offenses. Joyner has been detained since his May 2, 2023, arrest pending further court proceedings.

Joyner is charged with 16 counts under the United States and District of Columbia Codes, including six counts of Interference with Interstate Commerce by Robbery, six counts of Using, Carrying, and Possessing a Firearm During a Crime of Violence, two counts of Interstate Transportation of Stolen Vehicles, and one count of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition by a Person Convicted of a Crime Punishable by Imprisonment for a Term Exceeding One Year.

Under the D.C. Code, Joyner is charged with one count of Armed Carjacking, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Violent Crime Task Force and the Metropolitan Police Department’s Carjacking Task Force.

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