Washington DC Superior Court. Photo / Michael A. McCoy, The Washington Post
A 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty today to the attempted carjacking and beating of a former United States Doge Service staffer last month.
The attack captured the attention of US President Donald Trump and in part ignited his sweeping crime crackdown on Washington DC, deploying the National Guard and surging federal law enforcement on the capital’s streets.
The teen also pleaded guilty to participating in a nearby robbery that took place on the same night. He is yet to be sentenced in the case. Another teen, a 15-year-old girl, also faces charges.
In the early hours of August 3, prosecutors said, the boy was among a group that approached Edward Coristine – a software engineer who began work in the federal Government as a protege of Elon Musk – and another person on Swann St in Northwest Washington.
“Let me get your car! Let me get your car,” the group said, according to prosecutors.
While the other person was able to get into the vehicle and lock the doors, Coristine remained outside and was pummelled by attackers.
Trump later posted a bloodied picture of Coristine to social media, vowing a swift federal intervention if DC didn’t “get its act together, and quickly”.
Less than a week later, Trump announced he was putting DC police under direct federal control and deploying the National Guard to fight crime on the streets of Washington, an extraordinary exertion of federal power that rattled many local leaders and residents alike.
Although Trump’s 30-day order expired this month, congressional Republicans are pushing through more than a dozen bills that would reshape components of the DC criminal justice system in line with the President’s demands.
Last week, the House passed bills that, if enacted, would allow 14-year-olds to be tried as adults for serious crimes in DC and would strip judges of the discretion to give alternative sentences to young adults.
Despite opposition among top DC elected officials, the bills both passed with some Democratic support.
The President and US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro have both called for harsher penalties for juveniles. The topic loomed large last week when Republican House lawmakers pressed top DC elected officials, including the mayor, with questions about what they were doing to keep residents and visitors safe.
Today, prosecutors said that moments before the teen participated in the attack on Coristine, he was involved in another incident nearby. That incident didn’t garner the same national attention.
He was part of a group that approached a cluster of people outside a service station on U Street, a busy nightlife corridor about 1.5km from the White House, prosecutors said. The group ordered people to empty their pockets.
Video footage shows the boy, wearing red sneakers and a black ski mask over his head, hit two victims, according to prosecutors.
Then he kicked the head of another person lying on the ground as others took the person’s shoes and watch.
The boy pleaded guilty to four counts split between the two incidents: serious assault and robbery near the service station, and attempted robbery and simple assault for the attack on Coristine.
The Washington Post was granted access to the hearing on the condition that it not disclose any details that could identify the teens. The Post generally does not identify juveniles charged with crimes.
The teens were initially being held at the Youth Services Centre, or YSC, a facility in DC that holds young offenders. They later were moved into a less-restrictive setting on a judge’s orders and under strict rules.
The boy is staying at his mother’s home and has been attending school regularly and charging his electronic monitor, which was visible over his white socks at the courthouse.
His lawyer said he was proud of his client and grateful for the support of the boy’s mother, who attended the hearing virtually.
The girl, however, appeared to have struggled to follow the rules set out by Judge Kendra Briggs. She tested positive for marijuana early this month.
At school, she has accumulated seven absences – six of which are unexcused, Briggs said as she read from a report from court social services.
The girl also has seven unexcused tardy arrivals and has allowed the battery on her GPS monitoring device to get low at times.
“She knows she should be going to school every day,” her lawyer said at the hearing. “But I will note that she was truant all of the spring semester, so this is a significant amount of growth for her.”
The judge appeared unmoved.
“I was very clear with what the release conditions were, and I’m unclear as to why they’re not being followed,” Briggs said.
She allowed the teenage girl to remain in the custody of her father for the time being, only because that was the current recommendation from court social services and prosecutors did not object, she added.
“Let me be very clear,” she said. “If we come back here the next time and there is a positive marijuana test with levels showing this court there is new use, and you have missed another day of school or been late to school, your placement will be changing.”
The judge ordered the girl to take a drug test before she left the courthouse. Both teens remain under a 24-hour curfew, which Briggs previously described as “school and home, that’s it”.
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