D.C. Man Sentenced to 87 Months for Role in Kidnapping that Led to Two Deaths

WASHINGTON - Malik Terrell, 24, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 87 months in prison in connection with a 2023 kidnapping in which two people were killed, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

"Malik Terrell and his co-conspirators kidnapped two people at gunpoint, beat them, and set off a chain of events that ended with two men dead," said U.S. Attorney Pirro. "This was brutal, deliberate violence, and it cost lives. Today's sentence makes clear that anyone who takes part in deadly conduct will face serious and lasting consequences."

Terrell pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2026, to kidnapping and aiding and abetting. In addition to the 87-month prison sentence, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Terrell to serve five years of supervised release.

According to court papers, in the early morning hours of June 9, 2023, Terrell and nine co-conspirators returned to the 4400 block of F Street SE after attending a birthday celebration at a nightclub on Connecticut Avenue NW. Two other men, identified in court papers as Victim-1 and Victim-2, arrived back at the area shortly afterward.

At about 3:45 a.m., the group set upon Victim-1 as he sat in the driver's seat of his Mercedes SUV. Co-conspirators lunged at Victim-1 from the driver's-side doorway, confined him, and began stripping clothing from his body. Terrell assisted in preventing both victims from fleeing while the co-conspirators pulled Victim-1 from the vehicle. The purpose of the kidnapping was to steal Victim-1's clothing, money, vehicle, and other belongings.

The co-conspirators drove away in Victim-1's Mercedes SUV with both victims inside. Terrell and three others fled in a white Nissan Altima. The victims were transported to a nearby location where they were threatened, assaulted at gunpoint, and sustained serious injuries.

The group then transported Victim-1 across state lines into Maryland, stopping first at an apartment complex in Suitland and then at a second location in Waldorf. About 5:45 a.m. in Waldorf, a shootout erupted in a parking lot. Victim-1 and another individual were struck by gunfire and were later pronounced dead. About 6:45 a.m., first responders found the victim's Mercedes engulfed in flames in Capitol Heights, Maryland.

This case was investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office Violent Crimes Task Force and Safe Streets Task Force, the Charles County Sheriff's Office, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb Jr. and Anthony Scarpelli of the Violent Crimes and Narcotics Trafficking Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

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