District Man Sentenced to 48 Years in Prison for 2014 Slaying at Southeast Washington Barber Shop Defendant Repeatedly Shot Customer in Late-Morning Attack

WASHINGTON – Antwon D. Green, 29, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 48 years in prison for killing a man in 2014 at a Southeast Washington barber shop, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Green was found guilty by a jury in December 2017, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of first-degree premeditated murder, attempted armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and related charges. He was sentenced by the Honorable Judith Bartnoff. This prison term is in addition to a six-year sentence that Green must serve for an armed robbery he committed just weeks after the murder.

 
 According to the government’s evidence, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014, at about 11 a.m., Green walked by the front of the Kutt n’ Up barber shop in the 1400 block of Good Hope Road SE, and pointed at Breond Keys, a customer who was getting his hair cut inside.

 Roughly 16 minutes later, Green, now wearing different clothing including a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt and a mask, ran into the barber shop, holding a pistol in his hand.  Green immediately raised the pistol with both hands, pointed it at Mr. Keys as he sat in the barber chair getting his haircut, and opened fire, hitting Mr. Keys several times.  Other patrons and barbers scrambled to keep from being struck by Green’s bullets.  Once Mr. Keys fell to the floor, Green continued to fire at him, striking him several additional times.  As Mr. Keys lay dying on the barber shop floor, Green dug his ungloved-hand into Mr. Keys’ right, front pants pocket, stealing the contents therefrom.  Green then fled the barber shop.

 Mr. Keys, 38, was taken to a hospital, but pronounced dead a short time after the shooting.

 Several surveillance cameras mounted inside the barber shop caught the murder on video.  However, because Green successfully disguised his appearance with his hoodie and mask, none of the eyewitnesses were able to identify the gunman.  Upon examining the surveillance footage, the detectives saw that the gunman had reached into Mr. Keys’s pocket during the incident.  Accordingly, they submitted Mr. Keys’s pants for DNA examination and analysis.  DNA testing revealed that Green’s DNA (i.e., his skin cells) were found inside Mr. Keys’s right front pants pocket.

Following an investigation by MPD, Green was charged in the murder in July 2015. He has been in custody ever since.

The armed robbery case stemmed from a crime carried out by Green on Oct. 28, 2014, at a liquor store about a block away from where he earlier had committed the murder. That day, at approximately 4:15 p.m., Green ran past a man with a sleeping infant strapped to his chest and robbed a store owner who was restocking an ATM machine. He fled with $12,000 in cash. Green pled guilty in 2015 to a charge of armed robbery for this offense.

 In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the District of Columbia Office of the Medical Examiner, the Glendale Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory, and the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences.  They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Michael Ambrosino, Special Counsel for DNA and Forensic Evidence Litigation; Forensic Operation/Program Specialist Benjamin Kagan-Guthrie; Victim/Witness Advocate James Brennan; Paralegal Specialists Kelly Blakeney and Meridith McGarrity; Criminal Investigators John Marsh, William Hamann, and Zachary McMenamin, and Litigation Technology Specialist Leif Hickling.  Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard DiZinno, Glenn Kirschner and Allessandra Stewart, who investigated and prosecuted the case.