WASHINGTON – Eugene Sherman,53, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to second-degree murder for his role in the killing of a man following a break-in of the victim’s condominium in Northwest Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Sherman pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He is to be sentenced March 10, 2017, by the Honorable Hiram E. Puig-Lugo. A co-defendant, Joseph Jennings, Jr., 36, was sentenced last month to a 24-year prison term after earlier pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree murder while armed.
According to the government’s evidence, on the morning of Jan. 22, 2016, Sherman enlisted the assistance of Jennings and another man in a plan to break into a condominium in the 400 block of M Street NW and steal marijuana. Jennings and the other man both were armed. At about 9:48 a.m., Jennings used an object to forcibly pry open the locked front door to the building. Sherman waited nearby, while Jennings and the other man continued inside the building. As they attempted to gain entry to the unit through a sliding glass balcony door, the victim, Matthew Shevlin, fled out of the front door and began screaming for help.
Jennings chased Mr. Shevlin, and a struggle ensued. During this struggle, Jennings shot Mr. Shevlin, 37, who later died of multiple gunshot wounds.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocates James Brennan and Jennifer Clark, and Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Sharon Newman. Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney David Misler, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.