Demonta King, an 18-year-old resident of Chevy Chase, MD, has pleaded guilty to charges related to a carjacking incident in November 2024 and an armed robbery in August 2022. This development was revealed by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
King entered his guilty plea in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for one count of armed carjacking and one count of armed robbery. The Honorable Jennifer Di Toro has scheduled his sentencing for June 16, 2025.
Court documents outline that, on November 18, 2024, at approximately 1:50 a.m., in the 5000 block of Fort Totten Drive, NE, King, armed with a knife, confronted a taxicab driver standing near his vehicle. King demanded possessions by stating, “Give me everything,” and ordered the driver to surrender his keys. He proceeded to stab the driver's hand, causing him to drop the keys, enabling King to steal the taxicab, along with the victim's phone, driver’s license, bank cards, and other belongings. Subsequently, officers traced the vehicle to the 500 block of Chillum Road in Hyattsville, MD, where King crashed and attempted to flee on foot before being apprehended by police.
In a different incident on August 26, 2022, at around 5:45 a.m., King was involved in another robbery in which he approached a victim in the 100 Block of Gallatin Street and 1st Place NE. Armed with a firearm, he seized the victim's backpack and phone, physically assaulted the victim with the firearm, and escaped. King, who was 16 at the time, was prosecuted as an adult under Title 16.
Following the armed carjacking incident, King was arrested on the scene and has remained in custody since his apprehension. The investigation was carried out by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Green.