Terik McLeod, Second Degree Murder while Armed, Washington 2004

Grimy Times Exclusive: A 33-year-old man from Northeast, Washington, D.C. has been sentenced to 52 years in prison for fatally shooting two men, including a government witness, over a decade ago.

Terik McLeod, 33, was found guilty by a jury verdict after a retrial of Second Degree Murder while Armed in the killing of Devaun Drayton in 2004 and First Degree Murder while Armed in the killing of Carlton Fisher in 2006.

On July 26, 2019, the Honorable Ronna L. Beck of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia sentenced McLeod to 52 years in prison. He will also be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to the government’s evidence at trial, Devaun Drayton was shot once in the back of the head on March 10, 2004 behind the Phelps School in the Langston Terrace/21st & Maryland NE neighborhood.

McLeod had borrowed a gun from David Warren, who was going to sell it to him, but when Drayton did not return the gun, McLeod shot him in the head. Shortly after Drayton’s murder, McLeod admitted to Carlton Fisher that he killed Drayton.

However, when Fisher began cooperating with the government and sharing McLeod’s confession, McLeod murdered him with the assistance of Lovell Harris on October 1, 2006 by shooting Fisher 7 times, once in the back of the head, on Fisher’s front porch with his family and baby daughter inside.

U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu commended the work of the Metropolitan Police Department, Supervisor/IT Specialist Leif Hickling, IT Specialist Jeanie Lattimore-Brown, paralegals Meridith McGarrity and Lashone Samuels, Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker, Supervisory Victim/Witness Services Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington, Victim/Witness Services Coordinator La June Thames, CSO Michael Derian, the U.S. Marshall’s Service, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jean Sexton, Glenn Kirschner, Ellen D’Angelo, and John Giovannelli for their efforts in investigating the cases.

The case was a cold case homicide investigation that involved murders that occurred well over 13 years prior to trial. The successful prosecution of McLeod is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the investigators and prosecutors involved.

Terik McLeod’s sentence serves as a reminder of the gravity of the crimes he committed and the devastating impact on the families of the victims. Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and provide updates as more information becomes available.

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