Inset: Jeremy Black (Legacy.com). Background: The 1400 block of R Street Northwest in Washington, D.C. where Black was shot and killed (WUSA).
A 30-year-old Washington, D.C. man will spend nearly two decades behind bars for the fatal shooting of a 53-year-old man who was walking on the street after dinner with his wife and friends.
Dearay Wilson was sentenced Friday by a federal judge to 18 years in prison for the death of Jeremy Black in the nation's capital. Wilson pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder while armed. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, Wilson and three others drove to Johnson Avenue Northwest on the evening of June 29, 2021. Once there, they walked to an apartment building in the 1400 block of R Street Northwest and opened fire at a group of people standing outside an apartment complex.
In all, 45 shots were fired. Black, his wife and a friend just happened to be walking in the area after eating dinner at a local restaurant. Black was struck by the gunfire once in his left torso as he crossed the street. He died at the scene.
Local CBS affiliate WUSA spoke with neighbor Janice Holland after the shooting who heard the gunshots.
"I ran out to see what was going on and I saw a man laying on the ground, his wife in the background calling out his name, telling him 'I love you,'" she said, fighting back tears.
Another neighbor told local NBC affiliate WRC that he was on the couch on his laptop at the time of the shooting.
"My window shattered and I kind of got covered in glass, and a bit of bullet shrapnel landed next to me," he said.
The suspects hopped back in their car, which was stolen, and drove away. Cops eventually arrested Wilson. It's unclear what happened to the other three men and prosecutors did not divulge a motive.
"This sentencing sends a clear and necessary message: violent crime will not go unanswered," said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. "Dearay Wilson and other shooters indiscriminately fired over 45 rounds into a busy public street, killing Jeremy Black — an innocent man walking with his wife and friends after dinner. Our thoughts remain with his loved ones, and this office remains committed to stopping outrageous killing on the streets of the District."
Black was a father of two who were ages 17 and 15 at the time of the shooting, according to his obituary.
"After earning an undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis, he served as a volunteer for the Peace Corps in the Comoros Islands, leading to a lifelong passion of promoting a deeper understanding between people across and within borders," the obituary said.
He went on to work at the Ford Foundation and in the Peace Corps' Inspector General's Office.