A 15-year-old girl was sentenced to three years of detention in a youth facility for her role in the fatal group beating a 64-year-old disabled man in Washington, DC last year.
Reggie Brown, who was fighting cancer and had debilitating lupus, didn’t know the five teen girls who prosecutors said unleashed the unprovoked gang attack on him just after midnight in an alley in October 2023.
In August, a court heard the horrific details of the crime and saw cellphone video allegedly recorded by one of the girls during the assault.
The attackers, aged 12 to 15 at the time, were reportedly seen kicking Brown, stomping his head into the pavement, pulling his pants down around his ankles, and removing his belt to beat him with it.
The video also shows them celebrating what they had done, according to prosecutors.
At the time of his death, Brown weighed just 110 pounds and was undergoing cancer treatments.
A previous fall necessitated a metal plate to be surgically implanted into his head, and he only had two fingers left on each hand because of his various illnesses.
The 15-year-old attacker, whose younger sister also allegedly participated in the beating, stood in court Thursday and apologized to Brown’s family while her mother watched on video, according to The Washington Post.
‘I made a very important mistake. I just wanted to be by my sister’s side. But what we did was wrong,’ said the teen, who was the first of the group to plead guilty.
‘I feel horrible. I don’t have the power to make things right. But I will keep these feelings with me throughout my life to be the best citizen I can be.’
Judge Kendra D. Briggs repeatedly described the attack as ‘horrific’ as she handed down the sentence.
Briggs also told the girl she should have been a role model for her younger sister instead of following her directions.
Thursday’s proceedings centered on details of the teen’s mental health and schooling that Briggs ordered reporters in the gallery not to disclose.
The five teens were charged with Brown’s murder in March, and have been in the custody of DC’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation while awaiting trial.
If convicted, four of the girls could face a maximum penalty of confinement to a Department of Youth Rehabilitation facility until they turn 21, after which they would have to be released by law.
The 15-year-old initially pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, but prosecutors downgraded that to assault with a dangerous weapon, which they said was her foot.
Gabrielle LoGaglio, a prosecutor with the District’s Office of the Attorney General, said videos show the teen kicked Brown only once in the upper body, then stepped back as the others continued beating him.
‘She has cooperated and debriefed authorities about the actions of herself and her friends,’ LoGaglio said. ‘And during the attack, at least she had the good sense to step back and stop.’
Autopsy results showed Brown died from blows to the head, not the torso.
Police Detective Harry Singleton said during a pre-trial hearing that a 13-year-old in the group dealt the fatal blow to Brown with a kick to his head.
He described that girl’s role as ‘the most brutal part of the murder.’
The four girls who were allegedly more involved in the vicious beating have been charged with either first- or second-degree murder. Two of them resume trial next week, while the other two have trial dates set for later in the year, the Post reported.
LoGaglio had requested two years of youth detention for the 15-year-old, while the teen’s lawyer sought an earlier release.
Brown’s sister, Malda Brown, addressed the court on Thursday, saying a two-year sentence was not enough.
‘This crime was brutal. What happened to my brother was unacceptable, and telling young people that they can do this and only get two years of incarceration is not justice,’ she said.
After the hearing, Malda and the victim’s other sister, Nasia Israel, called the three-year sentence was ‘more than fair.’
Brown’s sister, brother, nieces and nephews submitted more than 20 letters to the judge asking to sentence the 15-year-old girl to more than two years.
They argued that she had a robbery charge in Montgomery County, Maryland around the time of the attack and should be incarcerated beyond her 18th birthday.
Philip Skillman, the teen’s attorney, pled for leniency.
‘She will live with this for the rest of her life,’ he said. ‘She does not have a cold heart. She made an egregious, horrific mistake. But she quickly demonstrated wisdom in agreeing to cooperate with authorities and shed light on what occurred.’
Skillman also criticized officials with the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services for not providing a timely report on his client as was ordered by the court, the Post reported.
Skillman said the judge had alerted the agency on September 13 that she was going to commit the teen and wanted an assessment as soon as possible.
The agency did evaluate the teen but submitted its findings the day of the sentencing hearing, which Skillman argued wasn’t enough time for him to challenge what was in the report.
Judge Briggs ultimately imposed a sentence a year longer than what the prosecution asked for.
‘You made a very bad decision,’ Briggs said. ‘No doubt you will remember this for the rest of your life, that you participated in an act that ended a person’s life.’