A 13-year-old girl has been sentenced to nearly eight years in juvenile detention for the brutal beating death of a 64-year-old man in Washington, D.C. just over a year ago.
The young teenager was one of five girls accused of beating Reggie Brown to death in the early hours of Oct. 17, 2023.
Brown — who had cancer, weighed only 100 pounds and had lost fingers on each of his hands because of lupus — was attacked around 1 a.m. in an alley as he walked home, Fox5 DC reported.
Prosecutors said the victim was initially assaulted by an adult male, who has yet to be identified, before the five girls asked if they could join in.
Brown was repeatedly punched, kicked and stomped by the group. He was left lying on his back without his shoes and with his pants pulled down, investigators said. He died from blunt force trauma injuries, the medical examiner ruled.
The girl, who was 12 at the time, was arrested in late March and charged with second-degree murder. On Wednesday, she apologized to the victim’s family in court. “This is not like me,” she said. “I am so sorry.”
Superior Court Judge Kendra Briggs ordered her held until her 21st birthday in a secure juvenile facility for the “horrific” crime, NBC Washington reported.
Two other suspects were also arrested in March. The other two girls were arrested in July. All suspects, between 12 and 15 at the time of the attack, were charged with second-degree murder and related charges.
Three of the girls have pleaded guilty in the case. One of them, who testified that they attacked the man because they “were bored,” was sentenced to three years in a juvenile facility.
The other teen found guilty in the beating is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18.