Girl, 14, sentenced for role in fatal beating of DC man

A judge sentenced a D.C. teenager to about three-and-a-half years for her role in the beating death of a 64-year-old man last year.

Reggie Brown was battling cancer and weighed just 110 pounds when he a man in a blue coat attacked him in Northwest in October 2023.

Five girls, ages 12-to-15, joined the attack, kicking and stomping on Brown and whipping him with his own belt. He later died.

“What I don’t understand is when juveniles commit crimes like they did with my brother,” Brown’s sister Malda Brown said.

Two of the girls, ages 13 and 14, were found guilty of second-degree murder and other charges Monday.

Three of the girls pleaded guilty in the case, including a girl who testified they did it because they were bored.

A 14-year-old girl pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit assault. She kicked Brown a few times in the shoulder, then stood back, prosecutors said. A judge sentenced her to a juvenile facility until she turns 18. Under D.C. law, the maximum is age 21.

“This is hard,” Malda Brown said. “This is hard on any family. And it’s even harder — you know, death is hard — but it’s even harder in the way that they took my brother’s life.”

“The goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation, not punishment,” the judge said. “I know that may not be what the [victim’s] family wants to hear.” 

Brown’s sister said she understands but hopes to meet with D.C. councilmembers to change the laws around juvenile crime.  

“Because if you get bored and you want to go out here and kill somebody, they need to stay in jail for life,” she said. “And that’s what gets me upset, when you hear that they were bored and they just wanted to go out and beat someone.”

In court Tuesday, the defense told the judge the 14-year-old girl expressed remorse, saying, “I feel bad because he was just an old man … He had a family. I think about him every day.” 

The girl’s mother also spoke in court, saying, “I just miss my daughter. I know she’s a good person … I don’t think she was a criminal. She was misjudged.” 

The girls found guilty at trial will be sentenced in December.

The man in the blue coat who started the attack hasn’t been identified.

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