Mocobizscene-A man accused of being involved in eight dangerous crimes across an 11-hour period in Washington, D.C. had been arrested on felony charges almost two years ago to the day — but the U.S. attorney’s office ultimately dropped them.
According to court documents dated January 23, 2021, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department were called to an apartment building near Anacostia and Fairlawn in response to a shooting. Upon arrival, they found Cunningham trying to enter the apartment where his siblings were located. When the officers prevented him from gaining access, Cunningham became physically aggressive towards them, leading to his detention.
Cunningham faced arrest on felony threats but later had his charges reduced to misdemeanor threats to do bodily harm, as stated in court records. In February, the United States Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia decided to drop the charges against Cunningham, resulting in the closure of his case. At the time, interim U.S. attorney Michael R. Sherwin was serving as the U.S. attorney for D.C., until March 2021.
On Monday, Cunningham was involved in eight dangerous criminal activities across Washington, D.C., resulting in his fatal shooting by officers in New Carrollton a little over two years later.
The Maryland Office of the Attorney General has identified Cunningham as the suspect in a recent release. Additionally, they have disclosed the names of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Cunningham. These officers include New Carrollton Police Sergeant Byron Purnell, a six-year veteran of the department, and Corporal Carlos Batenga, who brings five years of law enforcement experience to the table.
Prosecutors under both the U.S. attorney and D.C. attorney general’s offices have been adopting a trend of not prosecuting cases, which has had the consequence of criminals becoming repeat offenders or engaging in more serious crimes. This pattern continued with the dropping of Cunningham’s charges. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, who assumed the position in November 2021, has declined to prosecute almost 70% of individuals arrested by police officers in 2022. This declination rate has nearly doubled over the past seven years.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has faced criticism for his prosecutorial tactics, particularly in cases involving juveniles. One notable instance was when he decided not to prosecute an 11-year-old boy for assault and robbery. However, this decision proved controversial when the same child was arrested again less than two weeks later for armed robbery.
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