Defendant Shot the Victim as the Victim Ran Away
WASHINGTON – John Philogene, 24, of Washington, DC, was sentenced to nine years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed for shooting and killing a man in Southeast Washington following a fight, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Philogene pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by the Honorable Marisa J. Demeo.
According to the government’s evidence, on March 27, 2021, the decedent, Evan Shawntez Wood, and a friend entered an apartment building in the Cascade Park Apartments at 4281 6th Street, Southeast, Washington, DC, and were immediately confronted by the defendant with a gun. The victim, who friends said had been in the military, lunged at the defendant and they got into a fight that sprawled from the apartment building out into the courtyard. There, the victim broke free and ran from the courtyard. As the victim ran away, Philogene stood up, chambered a round in his handgun, and shot the victim in the back of the leg. Mr. Wood kept running, making it a couple of blocks to a yard alongside a house on Forrester Street, Southeast, Washington, DC, where he sat down and died.
Philogene and another subject then warned the victim’s friend not to talk, both at the scene and again the next day by Facetime. Philogene also went to the building where the victim’s friend usually bought drugs, kicked in an apartment door, and pointed a gun at the people inside while asking where the victim and his friend were.
Philogene was arrested almost exactly a month later on April 27, 2021. He has been in custody ever since.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Contee commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who handled the case at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Stephanie Siegerist and Victim/Witness Advocates Latrice Washington-Williams and Jenn Allen. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter V. Roman and Deputy Chief Laura Bach, who investigated and prosecuted the case.