Local
Prosecutor offers reduced charge in murder case
D.C. detective says 72-year-old victim paid roommate for sex
The victim was stabbed to death in his apartment at 1630 Fuller St., N.W. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Prosecutors have offered to lower the murder charge against a 21-year-old D.C. man arrested in February for allegedly stabbing his 72-year-old former roommate, Howard Venable, to death in exchange for a guilty plea.
At a May 8 status hearing in D.C. Superior Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly Schick, the lead prosecutor in the case, said the government would lower the charge against David Jamal Wilson from second-degree murder while armed to voluntary manslaughter while armed if Wilson agrees to a guilty plea by May 31.
Judge Herbert B. Dixon Jr. scheduled another hearing for May 31, at which time Wilson is expected to disclose through his attorney whether he accepts the offer.
A D.C. police homicide detective testified at a Feb. 20 preliminary hearing that the murder took place a few days after Wilson moved out of the apartment and on the same day Wilson and Venable exchanged text messages arranging for Wilson to return to the apartment to engage in sex with Venable.
According to Det. King Watts, the two men had a longstanding arrangement in which Venable paid Wilson for sex every two weeks. Watts testified that Wilson and another witness whom police haven’t identified told police about the sex for money arrangement.
The Feb. 20 hearing took a dramatic turn when Wilson’s court-appointed attorney, Jacqueline Cadman, told the court that Venable and Wilson had been in a longstanding “abusive” sexual relationship since Wilson was a “child.”
Cadman introduced a motion calling for the charge against Wilson to be lowered to manslaughter because of the alleged abuse. But Judge Stuart Nash, who presided over the case at that time, denied the motion, court records show.
Court records show that on April 25 Wilson dismissed Cadman as his attorney and retained a new attorney, James W. Beane, who represented him at the May 10 hearing.
A D.C. police affidavit filed in court at the time of Wilson’s arrest in February says Venable’s body was found lying face down in a pool of blood on the floor of his one-bedroom apartment at 1630 Fuller St., N.W., in a building known as the Mozart.
The affidavit says an autopsy found “multiple slashing wounds” on Venable’s neck, minor cuts on both hands “consistent with defensive wounds,” and two stab wounds to his upper torso, one of which struck his aorta.
According to the affidavit, police discovered Wilson used bank cards he allegedly stole from Venable’s apartment to withdraw more than $600 in cash from ATMs in District Heights, Md., on the night of the murder.
Detectives found Wilson at a residence in District Heights on Feb. 3, and Wilson agreed to go with the detectives to the homicide branch offices in Southwest D.C. to undergo questioning about the case, the affidavit says.
It says he gave “numerous inconsistent accounts” of his involvement in the murder, including an account that unknown intruders stabbed Venable. In one version, Wilson said Venable threatened him with a kitchen knife and the two argued and he and Venable struggled over the knife. Wilson told detectives Venable fell on the knife during the struggle and stabbed himself, the affidavit says.
The autopsy, however, found that the nature of Venable’s multiple wounds confirms that he could not have stabbed himself and that the manor of death was murder.
Court records show that Wilson had at least two encounters with police and the courts prior to his arrest for Venable’s murder.
In August 2012 he and two other men were charged with armed robbery for allegedly stealing a bicycle from another man at knifepoint in Meridian Hill Park. The charge was dropped after the victim, who was to be the lead witness, failed to show up at the trial.
In July 2011, court records show Wilson’s wife filed papers seeking a civil protection order against him after he allegedly assaulted her in the apartment where the two lived with their two children.
At the Feb. 20 court hearing, then defense attorney Cadman said Wilson’s wife was in the courtroom to show her support for him and favored a defense motion to release Wilson on bond. Judge Nash denied the motion, ordering Wilson to remain in custody.
Members of the D.C. group Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV) have complained in the past that the U.S. Attorney’s office has unnecessarily lowered charges against defendants charged with acts of anti-LGBT violence. A GLOV spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the offer by the U.S. Attorney’s office to lower the change against Wilson.
D.C. attorney Dale Edwin Sanders, who represents clients in criminal cases, said concern about possible complications at a jury trial over the sexual relationship between Venable and Wilson may have prompted prosecutors to issue the plea bargain offer.
But Sanders said he doesn’t think reducing the charge would make a significant difference in the sentence Wilson would receive if Wilson accepts the offer.
He noted that second-degree murder while armed carries a maximum sentence of life in prison compared to a 30-year maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter while armed. However, Sanders said the voluntary sentencing guidelines that most judges follow would likely provide a range of sentences that overlap between second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
“I’m sure the guidelines would not call for life in prison on the Murder II charge,” Sanders said. “So the functional difference between the two would probably be modest if any … The issue is they aren’t giving anything away. They just have a different label on it but essentially he would be pleading guilty to a homicide.”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect that Howard Venable was 72 at the time of his death. D.C. police initially reported that Venable was 68 in a press release in February at the time of the murder and the Blade reported that age before new information surfaced that he was 72.
District of Columbia
Eleanor Holmes Norton ends 2026 reelection campaign
Longtime LGBTQ rights supporter introduced, backed LGBTQ-supportive legislation
The reelection campaign for D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has been an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ rights since first taking office in 1991, filed a termination report on Jan. 25 with the Federal Elections Commission, indicating she will not run for a 19th term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Norton’s decision not to run again, which was first reported by the online news publication NOTUS, comes at a time when many of her longtime supporters questioned her ability to continue in office at the age of 88.
NOTUS cited local political observers who pointed out that Norton has in the past year or two curtailed public appearances and, according to critics, has not taken sufficient action to oppose efforts by the Trump-Vance administration and Republican members of Congress to curtail D.C.’s limited home rule government.
Those same critics, however, have praised Norton for her 35-year tenure as the city’s non-voting delegate in the House and as a champion for a wide range of issues of interest to D.C. LGBTQ rights advocates have also praised her longstanding support for LGBTQ rights issues both locally and nationally.
D.C. gay Democratic Party activist Cartwright Moore, who has worked on Norton’s congressional staff from the time she first took office in 1991 until his retirement in 2021, points out that Norton’s role as a staunch LGBTQ ally dates back to the 1970s when she served as head of the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
“The congresswoman is a great person,” Moore told the Washington Blade in recounting his 30 years working on her staff, most recently as senior case worker dealing with local constituent issues.
Norton has been among the lead co-sponsors and outspoken supporters of LGBTQ rights legislation introduced in Congress since first taking office, including the currently pending Equality Act, which would ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
She has introduced multiple LGBTQ supportive bills, including her most recent bill introduced in June 2025, the District of Columbia Local Juror Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban D.C. residents from being disqualified from jury service in D.C. Superior Court based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
For many years, Norton has marched in the city’s annual Pride parade.
Her decision not to run for another term in office also comes at a time when, for the first time in many years, several prominent candidates emerged to run against her in the June 2026 D.C. Democratic primary. Among them are D.C. Council members Robert White (D-At-Large) and Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2).
Others who have announced their candidacy for Norton’s seat include Jacque Patterson, president of the D.C. State Board of Education; Kinney Zalesne, a local Democratic party activist; and Trent Holbrook, who until recently served as Norton’s senior legislative counsel.
“For more than three decades, Congresswoman Norton has been Washington, D.C.’s steadfast warrior on Capitol Hill, a relentless advocate for our city’s right to self-determination, full democracy, and statehood,” said Oye Owolewa, the city’s elected U.S. shadow representative in a statement. “At every pivotal moment, she has stood firm on behalf of D.C. residents, never wavering in her pursuit of justice, equity, and meaningful representation for a city too often denied its rightful voice,” he said.
Sharon Nichols, who serves as press spokesperson for Norton’s congressional office, couldn’t immediately be reached for a comment by Norton on her decision not to seek another term in office.
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Congratulations to R. Warren Gill III, M.Div., M.A. on being appointed as the development manager at HIPS. Upon his appointment, Gill said, “For as long as I’ve lived in Washington, D.C., I’ve followed and admired the life-saving work HIPS does in our communities. I’m proud to join the staff and help strengthen the financial support that sustains this work.”
Gill will lead fundraising strategy, donor engagement, and institutional partnerships. HIPS promotes the health, rights, and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by sexual exchange and/or drug use due to choice, coercion, or circumstance. HIPS provides compassionate harm reduction services, advocacy, and community engagement that is respectful, non-judgmental, and affirms and honors individual power and agency.
Gill has built a career at the intersection of progressive politics, advocacy, and nonprofit leadership. Previously he served as director of communications at AIDS United, supporting national efforts to end the HIV epidemic. Prior to that he had roles including; being press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential primary, and working with the General Board of Church and Society, the United Methodist Church, the denomination’s social justice and advocacy arm.
Gill earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religious studies, Jewish Studies, Stockton University; his master’s degree in political communication from American University, where his graduate research focused on values-based messaging and cognitive linguistics; and his master of Divinity degree from the Pacific School of Religion.
District of Columbia
Judge denies D.C. request to dismiss gay police captain’s anti-bias lawsuit
MPD accused of illegally demoting officer for taking family leave to care for newborn child
A U.S. District Court judge on Jan. 21 denied a request by attorneys representing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a gay captain accusing police officials of illegally demoting him for taking parental leave to join his husband in caring for their newborn son.
The lawsuit filed by Capt. Paul Hrebenak charges that police officials violated the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act, a similar D.C. family leave law, and the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause by refusing to allow him to return to his position as director of the department’s School Safety Division upon his return from parental leave.
It says police officials transferred Hrebenak to another police division against his wishes, which was a far less desirable job and was the equivalent of a demotion, even though it had the same pay grade as his earlier job.
In response to a motion filed by attorneys with the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, which represents and defends D.C. government agencies against lawsuits, Judge Randolph D. Moss agreed to dismiss seven of the lawsuit’s 14 counts or claims but left in place six counts.
Scott Lempert, the attorney representing Hrebenak, said he and Hrebenak agreed to drop one of the 14 counts prior to the Jan. 21 court hearing.
“He did not dismiss the essential claims in this case,” Lempert told the Washington Blade. “So, we won is the short answer. We defeated the motion to dismiss the case.”
Gabriel Shoglow, a spokesperson for the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, said the office has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation and it would not comment on the judge’s ruling upholding six of the lawsuit’s initial 14 counts.
In issuing his ruling from the bench, Moss gave Lempert the option of filing an amended complaint by March 6 to seek the reinstatement of the counts he dismissed. He gave attorneys for the D.C. attorney general’s office a deadline of March 20 to file a response to an amended complaint.
Lempert told the Blade he and Hrebenak have yet to decide whether to file an amended complaint or whether to ask the judge to move the case ahead to a jury trial, which they initially requested.
In its 26-page motion calling for dismissal of the case, filed on May 30, 2025, D.C. Office of the Attorney General attorneys argue that the police department has legal authority to transfer its officers, including captains, to a different job. It says that Hrebenak’s transfer to a position of watch commander at the department’s First District was fully equivalent in status to his job as director of the School Safety Division.
“The Watch Commander position is not alleged to have changed plaintiff’s rank of captain or his benefits or pay, and thus plaintiff has not plausibly alleged that he was put in a non-equivalent position,” the motion to dismiss states.
“Thus, his reassignment is not a demotion,” it says. “And the fact that his shift changed does not mean that the position is not equivalent to his prior position. The law does not require that every single aspect of the positions be the same.”
Hrebenak’s lawsuit states that “straight” police officers have routinely taken similar family and parental leave to care for a newborn child and have not been transferred to a different job. According to the lawsuit, the School Safety Division assignment allowed him to work a day shift, a needed shift for his recognized disability of Crohn’s Disease, which the lawsuit says is exacerbated by working late hours at night.
The lawsuit points out that Hrebenak disclosed he had Crohn’s Disease at the time he applied for his police job, and it was determined he could carry out his duties as an officer despite this ailment, which was listed as a disability.
Among other things, the lawsuit notes that Hrebenak had a designated reserved parking space for his earlier job and lost the parking space for the job to which he was transferred.
“Plaintiff’s removal as director at MPD’s School Safety Division was a targeted, premeditated punishment for his taking statutorily protected leave as a gay man,” the lawsuit states. “There was no operational need by MPD to remove plaintiff as director of MPD’s School Safety Division, a position in which plaintiff very successfully served for years,” it says.
In another action to strengthen Hrebenak’s opposition to the city’s motion to dismiss the case, Lempert filed with the court on Jan. 15 a “Notice of Supplemental Authority” that included two controversial reports that Lempert said showed that former D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith put in place a policy of involuntary police transfers “to effectively demote and end careers of personnel who had displeased Chief Smith and or others in MPD leadership.”
One of the reports was prepared by the Republican members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the other was prepared by the office of Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for D.C. appointed by President Donald Trump.
Both reports allege that Smith, who resigned from her position as chief effective Dec. 31, pressured police officials to change crime reporting data to make it appear that the number of violent crimes was significantly lower than it actually was by threatening to transfer them to undesirable positions in the department. Smith has denied those claims.
“These findings support plaintiff’s arguments that it was the policy or custom of MPD to inflict involuntary transfers on MPD personnel as retaliation for doing or saying something in which leadership disapproved,” Lempert says in his court filing submitting the two reports.
“As shown, many officers suffered under this pervasive custom, including Capt. Hrebenak,” he stated. “Accordingly, by definition, transferred positions were not equivalent to officers’ previous positions,” he added.
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