By Keith L. Alexander

August 13, 2018 at 3:09 PM

Three District men were sentenced to more than a decade in prison Monday in the fatal daytime shooting of a man who was walking by the Shaw-Howard University Metro station in August 2015 when he was caught in crossfire between rival gang members.

In June, the men, Marcus King, 22, of Northwest Washington, Andrew Dudley, 22, of Northeast and Christopher Proctor, 28, of Northwest each pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Cleveland native Matthew Shlonsky, a Deloitte Co. consultant and 2014 American University graduate.

Authorities say the 23-year-old Shlonsky was shot as he was headed to a going-away party for a friend at a restaurant by the Seventh and S streets corridor of Shaw in Northwest Washington.

The three men opened fire on each other, prosecutors said, but only Shlonsky was hit. Prosecutors later said it was unclear which of the three men fired the bullet that struck Shlonsky.

Related: [American University graduate gunned down in broad daylight]

During sentencing Monday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna repeatedly called the shooting that claimed Shlonsky’s life as “senseless” and “incredibly reckless and brazen.”

Matthew Shlonsky (Courtesy of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department/)

It was an emotional sentencing hearing with 80 people crowded into the courtroom, which was so full that court officials moved to a larger courtroom to accommodate dozens of Shlonsky’s family and friends who sat among the family and friends of the three defendants.

One of Shlonsky’s best friends, Brendan Walsh, described to the judge the screams from Shlonsky’s mother at his funeral. “No parent should ever have to face that. Nothing you can do can ever bring back the best man I ever knew.”

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed upon sentencing ranges for each defendant.

McKenna settled at the high end of the agreements, sentencing King to 17 ½ years in prison, Dudley to 18 ½ years and Proctor to 14 years. McKenna also added two additional years to Dudley’s sentence in connection to an assault on a D.C. jail inmate following his arrest.

“I realize that no amount of time for these defendants could bring back Mr. Shlonsky. There is nothing I can do at this sentencing that can erase the trauma felt by so many,” the judge said.

McKenna also denied a request by King’s attorney to sentence his client under the District’s Youth Rehabilitation Act. The law was designed for criminals under the age of 22 to allow for shorter sentences and the opportunity for offenders to emerge with no criminal record if they successfully complete their sentence and probation period. Prosecutors said King did not qualify based on his age at the time of the crime.

The judge acknowledged that several of Shlonsky’s family members asked her to reject the plea deal and sentence the men to more substantial prison terms.

Louis Caron, Shlonsky’s cousin, with his voice cracking at times, told the judge he was among the family members who identified Shlonsky’s body after the shooting. Caron, of Burke, Va., said the one piece of information that was a “consolation” in his young cousin’s death came when hospital physicians said the shot killed Shlonsky almost immediately andhe likely was dead and likely suffered no pain before he fell to the ground.

“He lived the life of 10 people,” Caron said. “We are grateful for that.”

Prosecutors reminded the judge that other individuals were strolling through Shaw on the afternoon of the shooting and also easily could have been struck, including a couple with four young children.

Related: [Three D.C. men plead guilty in fatal shooting of American University graduate]

Only one of the three defendants, each wearing orange D.C. jail jumpsuits, expressed remorse directly during the hearing. Proctor stood up and briefly turned his head to the audience. “I regret that this happened and I take full responsibility for what happened. And I apologize to the family,” Proctor said.

Attorneys for the other defendants conveyed their clients’ apologies.

In addition to prison time, the judge also ordered mental evaluations for the three men.

After the hearing, several relatives of the defendants walked up to Shlonsky’s family and friends and apologized and offered their condolences.

The District has seen a recent spate in shootings that killed unintended targets.

Homicide detectives have been searching for the shooters of 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson, who was struck by a bullet July 16 outside a Northeast Washington apartment complex when shooters fired into a group of residents.

On May 26, an Anacostia business owner, 39-year-old Alexander Mosby, was struck by a bullet while trying to break up an argument between a friend and another man.

Last August, 17-year-old Jamahri Sydnor was struck while driving a car in Northeast after another crossfire shooting among neighborhood gang members, police said. One of the shooters allegedly told a friend that Sydnor “got in the way,” according to court.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4051105&forum_id=2#36610842)

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not a pain i would have spared him

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