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Derek Turner, 31, of Washington, DC, was sentenced to 130 years in prison for his role in the murder of Devin Hall and Andrew McPhatter in 2017.
Specifically, Turner was convicted in December 2022 following a nine-week trial of:
- Two counts of first degree premeditated murder while armed;
- Conspiracy to kill and assault;
- Conspiracy to obstruct justice;
- Three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed;
- Four counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence;
- Seven counts of obstruction of justice;
- Four counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
The sentence includes 40 year terms for each murder count.
According to prosecutors, Turner was tried alongside Ronnika M. Jennings, 44, and Duan M. Hill, 33, both also of Washington, DC, who previously were sentenced to 15 years and 57 months in prison, respectively.
All three were involved in an ongoing feud between two neighborhoods in Southeast, DC in 2016 and 2017 between the Wahler Place and Trenton Park gangs, who committed 16 serious, violent crimes in less than a year, officials said, including four homicides.
Turner, also known as Fats, was a member of Wahler Place and was charged with the Jan. 7, 2017 murder of Hall and the March 1, 2017 murder of McPhatter, as well as several non-fatal shootings.
The jury convicted Turner in both murders, as well as the Feb. 17, 2017 attempted murders of rivals Raheem Osborne, Joseph Tyler, and McPhatter (before he was the victim of the later homicide).
While committing the crimes, prosecutors said that Turner utilized Jennings, who was a civilian clerk in the Metropolitan Police Department, to provide him with confidential police information to aid his criminal activities.
Jennings was convicted of three counts of accessory after the fact in the Feb. 17, 2017 attempted murder, as an accessory after the fact in McPhatter’s murder, and on one count of obstruction of justice.
Hill was convicted of multiple counts of obstruction of justice in connection with a conspiracy to recruit an associate of Turner to take criminal responsibility for the gun that Turner used to commit the two charged murders as well as three charged attempted murders.
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