Three men have been sentenced to prison time for a shooting that killed an 11-year-old boy almost two years ago in Southeast D.C.
Davon McNeal was hit by a stray bullet as he stepped out of his mother’s car on July 4, 2020. They had just attended an anti-violence cookout in the neighborhood they moved out of because it was too dangerous.
Carlo General, 21, was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison. Marcel Gordon, 27, received 10 years. Christen Wingfield, 24, received 9 and 1/2 years. Each of the D.C. men also was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
A fourth man, Daryle Bond, 20, is set to be sentenced in August to 7 and 1/2 to 9 and 1/2 years.
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All four men pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed and have been in custody since their arrests in summer and fall 2020.
John Ayala, McNeal’s grandfather, said earlier this year that he was angry the men received plea deals instead of going to trial.
“They’ll be out maybe in five years, and my grandson will never be back here again,” he said. “[…] I feel like I’m on fire.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said at the time that the plea agreements followed a thorough investigation and analysis of factors including case law and the evidence.
Arrest affidavits said the men sentenced for McNeal’s death were part of warring “crews” operating in Southeast. Near the crime scene in the 1400 block of Cedar Street SE, detectives found more than a dozen shell casings from five guns.
McNeal was a middle schooler who loved football and dreamed of playing in the NFL.
