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Jean Paul Kearney, 36, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder and other offenses in connection to the April 2021 shooting death of Dontra Harris outside of a DC apartment building.
According to court documents, on the night of April 4, 2021, Kearney was tailing Harris on a motorcycle until the two pulled over to the side of the road and got into a verbal argument before going their separate ways.
Kearney, who lived in the area, swapped out his motorcycle for his mother’s car and drove it to Harris’ apartment building, where he waited for him to come home for at least 15 minutes.
When Harris did arrive at the complex, police said that Kearney shot him several times in the back and he was pronounced dead by responding police and paramedics.
The next month, on May 13, 2021, as the Gun Recovery Unit executed a search warrant in connection to the homicide, prosecutors said that Kearney fired multiple shots at officers with an AK-47 assault rifle.
Several days later, when he learned that his phone was seized during the execution of the warrant, prosecutors said that Kearney attempted to provide family members with instructions about how to remotely erase its contents.
Kearney was convicted by a jury of:
- Assault on a police officer while armed;
- Possession of a firearm during a crime of violence;
- Obstruction of justice;
- Unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction;
- Possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device.
He also pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder while armed.
In addition to his prison sentence, Kearney was also ordered by a judge to serve five years of supervised release. He’s been in custody since his arrest by the Metropolitan Police Department on the day he fired at officers.
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