Murder Suspect Posed as Misdemeanor Suspect to Escape Custody

A murder suspect who escaped from custody Friday was ordered held without bond Monday.

Police suspect 24-year-old James “Sticky” Brewer in the shooting death of 71-year-old Solomon Reese on June 27. He was apprehended by U.S. marshals and taken to D.C. Superior Court, where he was held in a cell with others in custody.

In order to keep the prisoners straight, the court gives them identification bracelets. Brewer switched bracelets with a man suspected of a misdemeanor and posed as that man in court. After being released on personal recognizance for the other man’s alleged crime, Brewer was able to walk out of the courthouse.

With his lawyer, Brewer surrendered to authorities a day later, after cutting off his dreadlocks. Today he was ordered held without bond on the murder charge and the escape charge.

Investigators suspect Brewer targeted Reese for the money he made selling cigarettes out of his apartment.


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