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District of Columbia

Fourth man charged in 2016 D.C. trans murder sentenced to seven years

But with credit for time served, Cyheme Hall could be free in two years

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4 years ago

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<strong.Deeniquia ‘Dee Dee’ Dodds was shot to death in 2016. (Photo via Facebook)

A D.C. Superior Court judge on May 10 handed down a sentence of seven years in prison for the last of four men originally charged with first degree murder while armed in the July 4, 2016, shooting death of transgender woman Deeniquia “Dee Dee” Dodds on a street in Northeast Washington.

Judge Milton C. Lee delivered his sentence on Tuesday for D.C. resident Cyheme Hall, 26, just under three weeks after he issued the same seven-year sentence to Hall’s brother, Shareem Hall, 28, who, along with two other D.C. men, were initially charged with first degree murder while armed in connection with the Dodds case.

Police and prosecutors said Dodds was one of several transgender women that the Hall brothers and co-defendants Jalonta Little, 31, and Monte Johnson, 26, targeted for armed robberies in the early morning hours of July 4, 2016. Court charging documents say Johnson allegedly fatally shot Dodds in the neck after she fought back during the robbery attempt.

Lee acknowledged at the Tuesday, May 10 sentencing hearing that Cyheme Hall and his brother agreed to an offer in 2019 to cooperate with police and prosecutors following their arrests in exchange for being allowed to plead guilty to a second-degree murder charge. The two brothers testified as government witnesses at Little and Johnson’s trial in 2019 on the first degree murder charge and other charges, including armed robbery.

The judge noted that because of that cooperation, prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. issued a recommendation that the two brothers be sentenced to seven years in the Dodds case, a sentence that Lee pointed out is far lower than the potential sentence for a second-degree murder conviction. Under D.C. law, a second-degree murder conviction has a maximum sentence of life in prison.

As part of the plea offer that Cyheme Hall accepted in 2019, he also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit a crime of violence. Lee on May 10 sentenced him to seven years for that charge in addition to the seven years for the second degree murder charge. However, Lee ordered that the two sentences be served concurrently for a total of seven years.

Under standard sentencing practices, Lee gave Cyheme Hall and his brother credit for the just over five years the two have already served in jail since the time of their arrest. That means Cyheme Hall could be released in less than two years, after which he must serve five years of supervised probation after being released as part of the sentence handed down by Lee.

Cyheme Hall’s attorney, Jonathan Zucker, told Lee at the sentencing hearing that his client faces a possible sentence of nine years for a parole violation charge in connection with an unrelated burglary case in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Zucker said Hall was given a nine-year suspended sentence in the burglary case on the condition that he would not become involved in criminal activity during the time of his parole.

Lee declined a request by Zucker that Lee consider making a recommendation to the judge overseeing Hall’s parole violation case in Prince George’s County that the nine years be served concurrently with the seven years for the D.C. case.

Zucker said this means that it will be up to a Maryland judge to decide whether Cyheme Hall should serve up to nine years or less time in the Maryland case upon his release in the Dodds case.

The 2019 trial for Little and Johnson, meanwhile, ended with Judge Lee declaring a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Before the case went before the jury, prosecutors dropped their initial designation of the murder as a hate crime after Lee ruled in favor of a defense motion that there was insufficient evidence to prove a hate crime. Prosecutors said they filed the hate crime charge because they believe the men targeted Dodds because she was transgender.  

After initially saying they planned to request another trial on the murder charge, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office offered Little and Johnson a plea bargain deal, which they accepted, in which they pled guilty to a single count of voluntary manslaughter with the murder charge dropped.

The offer included a promise by prosecutors to ask for a sentence of eight years for the two men. Lee agreed to that request when he sentenced Little and Johnson to eight years last December.

Some LGBTQ activists have expressed concern that prosecutors should have pushed for a second trial for Johnson and Little. Activists have said reducing the charge from first degree murder to manslaughter sends a message that targeting members of the LGBTQ community for crimes of violence, especially trans women of color, can result in a lenient sentence of little more than a slapping of the wrist.

Attorneys familiar with criminal cases like this have said prosecutors sometimes offer a plea deal after determining that going to trial a second time could result in a not-guilty verdict based on the circumstances of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Donovan, the lead prosecutor in the Dodds murder case, discussed prosecutors’ rationale for agreeing to a sentence of eight years for Little and Johnson during their sentencing hearing last December in response to a question from Lee asking whether the sentence was too lenient.     

“Your honor, we believe that this takes into consideration the first trial and the evidentiary difficulties that were highlighted during the first trial and other incidents that occurred during the first trial,” Donovan told Lee. She added that the impact of a sentence on the victim’s family and the community was also considered. “And we believe that taking all of that into consideration, that it is an appropriate sentence,” she said.

At his sentencing hearing on May 10, Cyheme Hall offered his apologies to the family of the victim and said he was deeply sorry for his role in the incident that took the life of Dodds.

In a written statement submitted to the court, Hall expressed his “deepest remorse” for his actions. “I know that no matter what I say or do, I cannot change what has happened but going forward I vow to dedicate the rest of my life righting my wrong,” he wrote. “I feel like I owe this to the victim as well as the family and my community.”

Lee thanked Hall for his statement but said he could not lower the sentence to six years, as requested by Hall’s attorney, nor could he ask the Maryland judge to consider a lower sentence for the parole violation.

“You did not have the strength to say no to this crime,” Lee told Hall. “You could have extricated yourself from this, but you didn’t. There are some things you can’t get out of,” Lee said. “It was shameful what you did.”

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District of Columbia

Blade contributor, husband exchange vows in D.C.

Yariel Valdés and Kevin Vega held ceremony at Jefferson Memorial on March 23

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1 day ago

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March 30, 2026

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Kevin Vega and Yariel Valdés (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Washington Blade contributor Yariel Valdés and his husband, Kevin Vega, exchanged vows at the Jefferson Memorial on March 23.

The couple married in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 24, 2025. The Jefferson Memorial ceremony — which Blade International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Samy Nemir Olivares officiated — coincided with the third anniversary of Yariel and Kevin’s first date.

Yariel in 2019 asked for asylum in the U.S. because of the persecution he suffered as a journalist in his native Cuba. He spent nearly a year in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody before his release on March 4, 2020.

Yariel wrote a series of articles about his time in ICE custody that the Blade published. The series was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in 2022.

Yariel and Kevin live in South Florida.

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District of Columbia

‘Out for McDuffie’ event held at D.C. gay bar

Mayoral candidate cites record of longtime support for LGBTQ rights

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1 day ago

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March 30, 2026

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D.C. mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie held a meet and greet at Number 9 last week. (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

More than 100 people filled the upstairs room of the D.C. gay bar Number 9 on Thursday night, March 26, to listen to D.C. mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie at an event promoted as an “Out for McDuffie”  meet and greet session.

Several local LGBTQ activists who attended the event said they support McDuffie, a former D.C. Council member, in his run for mayor while others said they had not yet decided whom to vote for in the June 16 D.C. Democratic primary election.

As of March 27, eight other Democrats were competing against McDuffy in the June 16 primary, including D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), considered McDuffie’s lead opponent. Lewis George also has a record of strong support on LGBTQ issues.  

Most political observers consider McDuffie and Lewis George the two lead candidates in the race, with the others having far less name recognition.

The two lead organizers of the Out for McDuffie event were LGBTQ rights advocates Courtney Snowden, a former D.C. deputy mayor in the administration of Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Cesar Toledo, a local LGBTQ youth housing services advocate.

“I’m a candidate for mayor of Washington, D.C. and I’m running for mayor because I love this city,” McDuffie told the gathering after being introduced by Snowden. “And now more than ever we need leadership to take us to the future,” he said, adding that he and his administration would “stand up and fight” against President Donald Trump’s efforts to intervene in local D.C. affairs. 

“Our strength is in the 700,000 beautifully diverse residents of Washington, D.C.” he told the gathering. “And as Courtney said, I didn’t just show up and run for mayor and then start saying that I’m going to be an ally for the queer community, for the LGBTQ+ community,” he said, “I’ve lived my entire professional life fighting for justice and fighting for fairness.”

Following  his speech, McDuffie told the Washington Blade, “We’re going to fight to protect our LGBTQ+ community every single day. That’s what I’ve spent my career doing, making sure we have a beautifully diverse and inclusive city.”

He remained at Number 9, located at 1435 P St., N.W., for nearly an hour after he spoke, chatting with attendees.      

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District of Columbia

‘No Kings’ protests set for D.C.

Anti-Trump demonstrations to take place across country on Saturday

Published

5 days ago

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March 26, 2026

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A 'No Kings' protest took place in D.C. on Oct. 18, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

As President Donald Trump and his administration escalate rhetoric targeting transgender youth and student athletes, push efforts to restrict voting access for millions of Americans, and pursue foreign policy decisions that critics say bypass congressional authority, organizers across the country are once again mobilizing in protest.

For many LGBTQ advocates, the moment feels especially urgent.

In recent months, activists have pointed to a surge in anti-trans legislation, attacks on gender-affirming care, and efforts to roll back nondiscrimination protections as direct threats to the safety and visibility of queer and trans communities. Organizers say the demonstrations are not just about policy, but about defending the right of LGBTQ people — particularly trans youth and people of color — to live openly and safely.

Thousands of “No Kings” protests are planned nationwide, with multiple demonstrations set to take place in D.C.

One of the primary events, “No Kings Washington,” will be held in Anacostia, an overwhelmingly Black area of D.C. that is often at the center of conversations around racial justice, policing, and access to resources in the nation’s capital.

The protest in Anacostia is focused on what organizers describe as the “power behind the throne,” specifically Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor. Miller has been closely associated with the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, including the family separation practice that resulted in thousands of children being separated from their parents at the Southern border.

Activists have also linked immigration enforcement policies to broader concerns about LGBTQ migrants, including queer asylum seekers who often face heightened risks of violence and discrimination both in their home countries and within detention systems.

Anacostia protest details:

Participants are asked to gather starting at 1:30 p.m. on the southeast side of the Frederick Douglass Bridge. The closest Metro station is Anacostia on the Green Line, about an 8-minute walk from the starting point. Organizers strongly encourage attendees to use public transportation, as street parking is limited.

The march will proceed past Fort McNair and conclude near the Waterfront Metro station.

D.C. icon and LGBTQ activist Rayceen Pendarvis is set to speak at the protest around 2 p.m.

Kalorama protest details:

A separate protest will take place earlier in the day in Kalorama, a neighborhood long associated with political power and home to presidents, cabinet officials, and foreign ambassadors. Demonstrators are expected to gather at 10 a.m., with a march running until approximately noon near the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Kalorama Road.

Arlington/National Mall protest details:

Another group is expected to assemble at Memorial Circle near Arlington National Cemetery at 10 a.m. before crossing the Memorial Bridge into D.C., passing the Lincoln Memorial and continuing on to the Washington Monument. Organizers say the march is intended to defend “American democracy, the rule of law, and a healthy planet.”

Unlike last June — when organizers discouraged large-scale demonstrations in D.C. due Trump’s military/birthday parade — activists are now explicitly calling on people to show up in the nation’s capital and surrounding areas.

The protests also coincide with Transgender Day of Visibility weekend, which includes additional gatherings and celebrations on the National Mall. At the same time, peak bloom for the National Cherry Blossom Festival is expected to draw large crowds to the city. With multiple major events happening simultaneously, officials and organizers anticipate significant congestion, increased traffic, and crowded public transit throughout the weekend.

Organizers are urging participants to plan ahead and come prepared.

“Bring your signs, noisemakers, music, and creative ideas, and gather in joyful, nonviolent protest,” they said. “Children are very welcome.”

For more information, visit nokings.org.

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