Local
Sentencing postponed for two defendants in D.C. trans murder case
Prosecutors, defense attorneys mum on reason for delay
A sentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 20 for two of four men originally charged with first-degree murder while armed in the July 4, 2016, shooting death of D.C. transgender woman Deeniquia “Dee Dee” Dodds was abruptly cancelled last week without a reason shown in the public court records.
The D.C. Superior Court’s online records for defendant Shareem Hall, 27, and his brother, Cyheme Hall, 25, shows that a status hearing rather than a sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 28 for Shareem Hall and March 4 for Cyheme Hall.
The two men, who have been held without bond since the time of their arrest in the Dodds case in 2016 and 2017, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in 2019 as part of a plea bargain offer by prosecutors. Under the plea offer they agreed to testify as government witnesses at the 2019 trial of the other two men charged in the Dodds murder, Jalonta Little, 31, and Monte T. Johnson, 25.
That trial ended when the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the murder charge against Little and Johnson, prompting Judge Milton C. Lee to declare a mistrial. Lee agreed to a request by prosecutors to schedule another trial for Little and Johnson on the murder charge, but that never happened.
D.C. police said Dodds was one of several transgender women that the four men targeted for an armed robbery on the night of Dodds’ murder in locations in the city where trans women were known to congregate. Police said Dodds was shot after she fought back when the men attempted to rob her.
The postponement of the sentencing for the Hall brothers came just over a week after Lee, who continues to preside over the case, sentenced Johnson and Little on Dec. 10 to eight years in prison and five years of supervised probation upon their release in the Dodds murder case. But the sentence was for a single charge of voluntary manslaughter, which prosecutors offered to Johnson and Little in September 2021 in exchange for their agreement to plead guilty after the murder charge and other gun related charges were dropped.
The plea agreement included a promise by prosecutors with the Office of the United States Attorney for D.C. to ask the judge for the eight-year sentence for the voluntary manslaughter offense that under D.C. law carries a possible maximum sentence of 30 years.
In handing down his sentence, Lee gave Johnson and Little credit for the time they have already served in prison since their respective arrests. Johnson has been held without bond for five years and six months since his arrest in the Dodds case in September 2016. Little has been held for four years and 10 months since the time of his arrest in February 2017.
William Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office, has declined to provide a reason for why the sentencing hearing for the Hall brothers was “vacated” as stated in the public court docket and why status hearings were scheduled for the two men instead of a sentencing hearing.
Attempts by the Washington Blade to reach attorney Dorsey Jones, who’s representing Shareem Hall, and attorney Jonathan Zucker, who is representing Cyheme Hall, have been unsuccessful in an effort to determine the reason for the sentencing delay.
Also not responding to a Blade inquiry about the reason for the sentencing delay was Judge Lee’s law clerk, who court observers say would likely know the details of the case.
D.C. attorney Tony Bisceglie, who has practiced criminal law, told the Blade one reason for the postponement of the sentencing could be a request by the Hall brothers through their attorneys to withdraw their guilty plea on the second-degree murder charge. Judges have approved withdrawals of a guilty plea in past cases based on the circumstances of the case, according to Bisceglie.
One possible development is that that the defense attorneys and prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office are negotiating a new plea deal in which the guilty plea for second-degree murder is withdrawn so that the Hall brothers could then plead guilty to the same lower charge of voluntary manslaughter to which defendants Little and Johnson were allowed to plead.
“It could be that the government is reconsidering,” Bisceglie said. “There are any number of possibilities. There’s no way to know,” he said unless the attorneys or prosecutors agree to disclose what’s happening in the case.
The public court docket shows that the status hearing for Shareem Hall is scheduled for Jan. 28 at noon before Judge Lee. The docket shows the status hearing for Cyheme Hall is scheduled for March 4 at 11:30 a.m. also before Judge Lee.
Since status hearings are open to the public, it’s possible but not certain that the reason behind the delay in the sentencing will become known through statements made by the parties at those hearings.
At the time of the sentencing for Johnson and Little, the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community’s Anti-Violence Project submitted a community impact statement to the court calling on Judge Lee to hand down the maximum sentence for the two men.
“We adamantly request that the court impose the maximum sentences allowed, reinforcing respectful and impactful consequences to these defendants for their violent crimes,” the Anti-Violence Project’s statement says. “Additionally, we ask that you take into consideration the perceived vulnerability of the victim of the defendants’ violent crimes as a transgender woman of color whose rights and life were targeted in a way that confirms they did not matter to the defendants,” the statement says.
“This victim’s attempt to defend herself from their violence was answered with lethal brutality,” the statement continues. “Her voice is silenced, but the grief and outcry for justice from the LGBTQ+ community rises to honor her death and demand effective and responsive protection for the lives of all LGBTQ+ people targeted by future criminals.”
District of Columbia
Imperial Court of Washington drag group has ‘dissolved’
Board president cites declining support since pandemic
The Imperial Court of Washington, a D.C.-based organization of drag performers that has raised at least $250,000 or more for local LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ charitable groups since its founding in 2010, announced on Jan. 5 that it has ended its operations by dissolving its corporate status.
In a Jan. 5 statement posted on Facebook, Robert Amos, president of the group’s board of directors, said the board voted that day to formally dissolve the organization in accordance with its bylaws.
“This decision was made after careful consideration and was based on several factors, including ongoing challenges in adhering to the bylaws, maintaining compliance with 501(c)(3) requirements, continued lack of member interest and attendance, and a lack of community involvement and support as well,” Amos said in his statement.
He told the Washington Blade in a Jan. 6 telephone interview that the group was no longer in compliance with its bylaws, which require at least six board members, when the number of board members declined to just four. He noted that the lack of compliance with its bylaws also violated the requirements of its IRS status as a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c) (3) organization.
According to Amos, the inability to recruit additional board members came at a time when the organization was continuing to encounter a sharp drop in support from the community since the start of the COVID pandemic around 2020 and 2021.
Amos and longtime Imperial Court of Washington member and organizer Richard Legg, who uses the drag name Destiny B. Childs, said in the years since its founding, the group’s drag show fundraising events have often been attended by 150 or more people. They said the events have been held in LGBTQ bars, including Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, as well as in other venues such as theaters and ballrooms.
Among the organizations receiving financial support from Imperial Court of Washington have been SMYAL, PFLAG, Whitman-Walker Health’s Walk to End HIV, Capital Pride Alliance, the DC LGBT Community Center, and the LGBTQ Fallen Heroes Fund. Other groups receiving support included Pets with Disabilities, the Epilepsy Foundation of Washington, and Grandma’s House.
The Imperial Court of Washington’s website, which was still online as of Jan. 6, says the D.C. group has been a proud member of the International Court System, which was founded in San Francisco in 1965 as a drag performance organization that evolved into a charitable fundraising operation with dozens of affiliated “Imperial Court” groups like the one in D.C.
Amos, who uses the drag name Veronica Blake, said he has heard that Imperial Court groups in other cities including Richmond and New York City, have experienced similar drops in support and attendance in the past year or two. He said the D.C. group’s events in the latter part of 2025 attracted 12 or fewer people, a development that has prevented it from sustaining its operations financially.
He said the membership, which helped support it financially through membership dues, has declined in recent years from close to 100 to its current membership of 21.
“There’s a lot of good we have done for the groups we supported, for the charities, and the gay community here,” Amos said. “It is just sad that we’ve had to do this, mainly because of the lack of interest and everything going on in the world and the national scene.”
Virginia
LGBTQ groups to join Spanberger inaugural parade
Virginia Pride among more than 25 orgs to march in Jan.17 event
Virginia Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural committee announced on Jan. 2 that at least two LGBTQ organizations will be among more than 25 state-based organizations, including marching bands, that will participate in her inaugural parade on Jan. 17.
A statement released by the inaugural committee says the parade will take place immediately after Spanberger is sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor and delivers her inaugural address in Richmond.
The statement lists the LGBTQ groups Virginia Pride and Diversity Richmond as two groups participating in the parade, although the two groups merged in 2021, with Virginia Pride becoming a project of Diversity Richmond. Among other things, Virginia Pride organizes Richmond’s annual LGBTQ Pride events.
“A display of the impressive talent and beauty of every corner of Virginia, our inaugural parade will be a celebration of all that makes our Commonwealth strong,” Spanberger said in the Jan. 2 statement. “I’m excited for attendees in the stands on Capitol Square and families watching together at home to see this incredible showing of Virginia pride,” she said.
James Millner, who serves as director of Virginia Pride, told the Washington Blade about 75 people are expected to join the Virginia Pride-Diversity Richmond contingent in the parade. He said among them will be members of other Virginia LGBTQ organizations.
“We’re going to invite our staff, our board, our volunteers, and our community partners to join us,” Millner said.
“We are thrilled and honored to have been invited to participate in Abigail Spanberger’s inauguration festivities,” he added. “I think this represents a marked change from the previous administration and demonstrates what she campaigned on – which is she sees the diversity of the Commonwealth as a strength that needs to be celebrated,” he said. “And we are very happy that she has invited us to represent the diversity of the commonwealth.”
Millner appeared to reflect on the sentiment of the large majority of Virginia’s LGBTQ community in its support for Democrat Spanberger over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the November 2025 Virginia election and the end of incumbent GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s term in office on Jan. 17.
“After what we’ve been through with the Younkin administration, especially in its treatment of LGBTQ folks, especially transgender and nonconforming folks, I think we are all breathing easy and excited about what opportunities will exist in working with Abigail Spanberger,” he told the Blade.
District of Columbia
Two pioneering gay journalists to speak at Thursday event
Blade’s Chibbaro, Falls Church News-Press’s Benton talk long careers
Two local gay journalists will speak on a panel this week about their long, pioneering careers.
A celebration of the Falls Church News-Press’s Nicholas Benton and the Washington Blade’s Lou Chibbaro Jr., two trailblazing LGBTQ journalists who have spent decades reporting on the front lines of social, cultural, legal, and political change in America, will be held this Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Women’s National Democratic Club of Washington. D.C., 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., at 6 p.m., according to a statement from organizers.
The program will explore their journeys, the evolution of LGBTQ journalism, and the ongoing fight for equality and justice. Benton and Chibbaro will also examine the various factors causing many news outlets to cease print publication and their energetic efforts to continue publishing their work both in print and online.
EVENT DETAILS:
- Remarks and Q&A, in-person and via Zoom.
- 6 p.m. complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar; 6:30–7:30 p.m. program followed by book signing.
- Zoom only: $10. In-person: members: $20, nonmembers: $30 plus tax.
Benton’s latest book, “Please Don’t Eat Your Children, Cult Century, and Other Essays,” will be available for purchase at the event.
Benton is a longtime local journalist and LGBTQ rights activist whose work has had a lasting impact on both community journalism and social justice. Author of the first-ever editorial in the pioneering Gay Sunshine newspaper in 1970, he is best known as the founder, owner, and editor of the Falls Church News-Press, an independent weekly newspaper he launched in 1991 and is the paper of record for the City of Falls Church, Virginia.
Chibbaro is the senior news reporter for the Washington Blade and a pioneering journalist in LGBTQ news coverage. He has reported on the LGBTQ rights movement and community continuously since 1976, first as a freelance writer and later as a staff reporter, joining the Blade in 1984.
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