Washington, D.C
15-year-old girl pleads guilty, testifies in brutal murder of DC man – WTOP News
The trial is ongoing for the five girls who brutally beat 64-year-old Reggie Brown to death in Northwest D.C. last year.
A trial is ongoing for the five girls who brutally beat 64-year-old Reggie Brown to death in Northwest D.C. last year.
Now, two of the five girls have pleaded guilty in Brown’s death, which happened along Georgia Avenue last October.
NBC Washington reporter and WTOP alum Paul Wagner joined WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer to talk more about the developments in the case.
WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer talk to Paul Wagner about the murder of Reggie Brown.
The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
Anne Kramer: Paul, thanks for joining us. What happened in court, in regards to this case, and where are we in this trial?
Paul Wagner: So we’re almost at the end of the government’s case. There was a lot of arguments between lawyers over what evidence could come in. What we did learn is that there was a woman who was approached by detectives and asked if she could identify any of the five girls that were caught on camera that night, walking up Georgia Avenue. Because there are certain rules that reporters have to abide by, I can’t say where this woman worked, but it is an interesting connection and she was able to identify two of the girls.
The other thing we learned is that the brutal beating that was actually recorded by one of the girls that night was actually emailed to the detective a couple of weeks after the beating, and he testified that that video was emailed to him by a social worker. It looks like Thursday is going to be very interesting, where we’ve been told that there’ll be some Instagram messages that will be shown to the judge, and we’re anticipating that that could be quite interesting.
Shawn Anderson: Now, it was just yesterday that you told us we had compelling and chilling testimony from a 15-year-old girl who had pleaded guilty and is now testifying against a couple of her friends. She explained the teens went out and attacked this man because they were “bored.” Tell us more about that.
Wagner: Yeah, that was pretty shocking. I got to say, sitting there in the courtroom, I didn’t know what to expect from this 15-year-old. She is locked up and will be locked up for three years, but she testified under a grant of immunity, and yes, Shawn and Anne, she said that she and her friends were out looking for someone to beat up that night. And when the prosecutor said, ‘Well, why? Why were you doing that?’ And she said, ‘We were bored.’
Now, there’s another major aspect of this case, and there was a man that actually instigated all of this. The detectives call him “Blue Coat” because they don’t know who he is. But Wednesday, we saw a video of him taking Reggie Brown across Georgia Avenue by the collar and then throwing him up against a wall at the Domino’s Pizza there at Sheridan Street. And that’s how this all began. This 15-year-old, who testified Tuesday, said that they had walked up to Blue Coat and asked if they could join in. Could they beat him up too? And Blue Coat said, ‘Sure.’ There had been previous testimony that Blue Coat had threatened the girls with a gun and said that if they didn’t join in, that he would shoot them.
But this 15-year-old testified that that did not happen. That was not correct. He never threatened them.
One other thing we did learn, too, is that a second girl has now pled guilty. It’s unclear what she’s pled guilty to. It happened during a status hearing, and so that wasn’t open to reporters. Of the five girls that are charged in this case, two have now pled guilty. Two are now on trial, and one more will go on trial next year.
Kramer: Curious if it’s in any court documents, anything that you’ve seen or heard, or if there’s any kind of connection to an organized crime or a gang, or are they just all friends?
Wagner: No, the testimony was that these were all friends. They hung out at a rec center. That was the testimony Tuesday. That night, they had gone to a skate park, and they were just hanging out. Like she said, they were just bored. Just five girls that somehow, allegedly, joined in this beating of this 64-year-old disabled man. And I’ve got to tell you, the video, which the public will never see, because it’s going to be sealed in the juvenile matter, is one of the most brutal videos I’ve ever seen in my life.
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WASHINGTON (7News) — The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.
McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
The archbishop said Rossetti’s statements “linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center’s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
“There’s a danger here,” Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page addressing UFO sightings and the existence of aliens. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. … They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”
“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.
Rossetti also said that people can be good Catholics and believe there’s life on other planets, though he does not personally believe life exists elsewhere.
In a statement posted on the St. Michael Center website, Rossetti said he was saddened by the action of the archdiocese.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on ‘aliens and the demonic,’” he said. “I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient.”
Rossetti, who has over 148,000 followers on Instagram, is a prominent psychologist as well as an exorcist. His center has specialized in offering spiritual healing for priests troubled by various difficulties.
In 2023, he told The Associated Press there was increasing and renewed appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcism.
Washington, D.C
Nurses at Washington D.C.’s largest hospital call on leadership to reverse planned cuts to maternal health
RNs at MedStar Washington Hospital Center say closure of postpartum unit will disproportionately harm marginalized and underserved communities
Union nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in Washington, D.C. are demanding that management stop the planned closure of an entire postpartum unit, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). The hospital notified the union on May 26, 2026 of its intention to eliminate 11 maternal health beds and displace eight nurses by July 26, 2026, leaving MWHC with one postpartum unit.
In a follow-up town hall with staff nurses, Chief Nursing Officer Ariam Yitbarek confirmed the closure. Other leaders have additionally informed staff that the hospital will strictly limit scheduled C-sections and inductions for patients from numerous D.C. maternal health organizations. The list of organizations includes many that primarily serve low-income patients, immigrants, and patients of color, all communities with significantly higher risks of maternal mortality. Additionally, staff were informed that Kaiser Permanente, which notably insures a large number of DC city employees and even many of MWHC’s own workers, will see a strict limit on scheduling inductions and C-sections for their patients as well.
“Closing postpartum unit 5F will gravely impact those most affected by health disparities,” said Stephanie Sims-Coates, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit. “Our low-income families and families of color will be most affected by this closure. Families trust the medical staff at MWHC and plan to come to us for their care. In a city where Black women make up 90 percent of pregnancy-related deaths despite being only half the population, the hospital’s decision to close this unit is a significant mistake.”
Community leaders and healthcare workers are joining the call for MedStar to put patients before profits and keep the unit open. This past weekend, nurses met with D.C. mayoral candidate and Ward 4 councilwoman Janeese Lewis George about the planned closure and the impact it would have on DC’s most vulnerable residents.
“Maternal mortality is a crisis for Washington, DC, and our healthcare system needs to address the crisis immediately, rather than exacerbate the challenges that birthing parents face,” said Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George. “Now is the time to invest in health care, rather than make cuts. I want to work with the hospital to identify solutions that work for patients and the provider.”
“In my time at Washington Hospital Center, I’ve seen the hospital tout its Safe Moms, Safe Babies program and host a community baby shower specifically designed to call attention to the maternal mortality crisis,” said Marcqueata “Tiya” Butler, RN in the Mother/Baby unit. “Their current plan to shut down 11 postpartum beds betrays the hospital’s stated commitments. They are aware of persistent inequities in access to care. We are calling on the hospital to consider the impacts on the community, safeguard the mothers and infants of DC and commit to addressing the maternal mortality rate.”
In 2024, MedStar Health, a registered non-profit, reported $9 billion in operating revenue.
NNOC/NNU represents more than 2,200 registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.
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