WASHINGTON, DC – A Washington, D.C. resident, Mussay Rezene, 31, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for the first-degree murder while armed of 17-year-old Brayan Villatoro. The sentencing was handed down yesterday by the Honorable Robert D. Okun, according to U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves.

Rezene was convicted in January after a jury trial. The evidence presented by the government revealed that on the evening of September 18, 2021, around 9 p.m., Villatoro was en route to a family gathering with friends when he requested a brief stop at the 1300 block of Nicholson Street Northwest. After exiting the vehicle, Villatoro was led by Rezene into a nearby alley, where he was subsequently shot eight times and killed. Rezene, who arrived in a vehicle later identified as stolen, fled the scene immediately after the incident.

Authorities were able to link Rezene to the crime through surveillance footage that captured him wearing distinctive shoes and attire. These same shoes were visible in a social media photograph of Rezene, posted after Villatoro’s death. Additionally, cell-site data placed Rezene at the murder scene and along the route of the stolen vehicle.

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