Washington DC Men Sentenced To Prison For 2018 Mistakingly Shooting Father & Minor Son In Driveby Shooting

Tuesday, September 3, 2024, 5:15 P.M. ET. By Art Fletcher: 2 Minute Read, Englebrook Independent News

WASHINGTON, DC.- On Friday, August 30, 2024, three Washington, D.C., men appeared in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and were sentenced to federal prison for their roles in the December 2018 shooting of a 34-year-old father and his teenage son in the Clay Terrace neighborhood of Northeast, Washington, D.C.

     According to U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, on Friday, Jamal Matthews, 34, of Washington, D.C., appeared before a U.S. District Court Judge and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison. Matthews was additionally sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for his efforts to obstruct justice in the shooting, for a total of 26 years.

     Darnell Savoy, 25, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced on Friday to nine years in federal prison. Stefon Freshly, 28, of Washington, D.C., was also sentenced by Judge O’Keefe to seven and a half years in federal prison. The Judge ordered Savoy’s nine-year sentence to run consecutively to the five-year sentence he received for his federal conviction of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

All Three Plead Guilty

     On March 29, 2024, all three men appeared before Superior Court Judge Michael O’Keefe and pleaded guilty in connection with the shooting. Savoy was sentenced on August 2, 2024, in U.S. District Court to five years for federal charges for drug possession and firearms offenses in connection with an October 2022 stabbing investigation.

     According to documents filed with the court on December 28, 2018, the father and son were in their SUV parked along the curb on the 200 Block of 54th Street, Northeast, waiting for a friend to arrive so they could leave to attend a WWE wrestling event.

     As the father and his son waited, Matthews saw the SUV and mistook it for the same vehicle that shot at him and his cousin three days earlier. Matthews escaped from the Christmas Day shooting uninjured, but his cousin was fatally shot.

Matthews Opens Fire

     After noticing the SUV, Matthews called another individual, who then called Freshly. Moments later, Freshly and Savoy, who were just a few blocks away, entered Savoy’s Nissan Altima and drove to Matthews, who entered the Nissan with an assault rifle. While riding in Savoy’s vehicle, all three men in the Nisan approached the 200 Block of 54th Street Northeast. As they drove toward and past the victims’ SUV, Matthews fired 30 shots at the vehicle.

     The teen son was struck nine times, including in the head, abdomen, chest, and back. The father sustained gunshot wounds to his leg and hand.