Johnwann Elliott, a 31-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed and attempted assault with a dangerous weapon. The charges stem from the 2022 murder of Nikia Young, aged 37, in Southeast Washington. U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department announced the plea.
The plea agreement proposes a 21-year prison sentence for Elliott, followed by five years of supervised release. This agreement is subject to court approval by Judge Maribeth Raffinan of the D.C. Superior Court, who has scheduled sentencing for March 14, 2025.
According to evidence presented by the government, on March 15, 2022, at approximately noon, Elliott disembarked from a Metro bus at Minnesota Avenue and White Place Southeast. He then proceeded toward Minnesota Avenue and 23rd Street Southeast where he encountered Nikia Young and another individual walking in the opposite direction. As they crossed paths in the crosswalk, Elliott used a .380-caliber handgun to shoot Young multiple times at close range in broad daylight. Young was struck five times—once in her face, three times in her chest, and once in her right hip—before Elliott fled on foot and reboarded the same bus he had exited moments earlier.
Elliott was apprehended on May 19, 2022, inside a hotel located in Northeast Washington, D.C., and has remained in custody since his arrest. At the time of these offenses, Elliott was awaiting trial for unauthorized vehicle use and was under supervised release following a previous robbery conviction.
The investigation into this case was conducted by the Homicide Branch of the Metropolitan Police Department. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Lindhorst initially investigated and indicted the case; it is currently being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles R. Jones.