WASHINGTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - District of Columbia), published as received.

            WASHINGTON – Stefen Farmer, 52, of Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a jury of the February 2021 shooting of a man on a sidewalk in Northeast Washington D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department. The verdict was returned today. The Honorable Anthony Epstein scheduled sentencing for June 9, 2023.

            Farmer, 52, was found guilty following a two-week trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of aggravated assault while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with significant bodily injury, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, and lesser included firearms offenses.

            According to the government’s evidence, on February 25, 2021, the Defendant was sitting in the driver’s seat of a small black SUV parked on the 4400 block of Gault Place, around 6 pm.  The victim, a longtime friend of the Defendant’s, walked up to the Defendant’s window and started a conversation.  The Defendant repeatedly asked the victim for $2 and the victim said no. The Defendant, upset at the victim’s response, retrieved a gun, stepped out of the car, and shot at the victim from pointblank range three times, as the victim was walking away.  Two bullets hit the victim while he was trying to escape the gunfire and he sustained injuries to his hand and leg.  The Defendant only stopped shooting because a mutual friend of both men pushed the Defendant back while he was firing the gun.  Three days after the shooting, Defendant sent the victim a Facebook message apologizing “for the inconvenience.” 

            This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.  It was prosecuted and tried by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alec Levy and Omeed Assefi of the Major Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Kern, Paralegal Specialist Antoinette Sakamsa, and Litigation Technology Specialist Lief Hickling.