Teen shot 16 times on his way to play basketball, DC prosecutors say. Man found guilty
.jpg "A 20-year-old DC man was found guilty of killing a 15-year-old boy in 2018, officials said.")
A masked teenager accusing of gunning down another teen in Washington, D.C. has been found guilty by a jury, according to federal prosecutors.
Fifteen-year-old Gerald Watson had just returned home from school and was on his way to play basketball a few days before Christmas in 2018 when two individuals began pursuing him, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Malik Holston and an accomplice, both of whom were masked and carrying weapons, chased Watson in a parking lot, according to the release. Holston then followed Watson into an apartment building, while the accomplice waited outside.
“Are they coming?” Watson reportedly asked someone in the building after running inside, according to the Washington Post.
Holston, now 20 years old, eventually cornered Watson in a stairwell and shot him 16 times with a revolver, according to the release. He and his accomplice then fled the scene.
Watson’s brother, who was nearby at the time, heard gunshots and found his brother in the apartment surrounded by bullet casings and covered in blood, according to the D.C. Witness. When asked by his brother if he’d been hit, Watson replied “everywhere.”
Watson was transported to a hospital where he died, according to the release.
An attorney for Holston could not immediately be reached by McClatchy News.
Washington, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham told NBC Washington several days later that the killing was “one of these senseless disputes between two neighborhood groups.”
Holston was arrested five days later, and has been in custody since then, according to the release.
Holston was found guilty on Nov. 3 of first-degree murder and two firearm offenses by a jury in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He will be sentenced in January 2023, according to the release.
The accomplice was killed in a separate shooting in 2019, according to the release.
This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Teen shot 16 times on his way to play basketball, DC prosecutors say. Man found guilty."