Jury Convicts Two Men Who Attacked a Man Outside of a Liquor Store

WASHINGTON - Phillip Bealle, 39 and James "Stacey" Williams, 54, were each found guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault with significant bodily injury while armed for their attack of an adult male victim outside a liquor store in Southwest D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

The verdicts, which took place on September 5, 2025, following a three-day jury trial, were returned in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Honorable Andrea Hertzfeld scheduled sentencing for November 13, 2025.

According to the evidence and testimony presented at trial, on June 25, 2024, following a verbal altercation inside the liquor store, Bealle charged at the victim outside the liquor store when the victim tried to walk away. Bealle then began to beat the victim with a 2x4 wooden plank from a nearby construction site. Williams, who had also been standing outside the liquor store, joined in, beating the victim with his metal walking cane. Much of the attack was captured by the store's surveillance footage. Metropolitan Police Department ("MPD") officers located each defendant a short distance away from the scene of the offense on the same date. The victim was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where injuries to his head were stapled shut.

Joining in the announcement was Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Pirro and Chief Smith commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mikéla Cuffy and Katherine Ballou, who prosecuted the case.