District of Columbia
Death of D.C. gay robbery victim ruled a homicide
Police pursuing additional charges against two juveniles

D.C. police announced on Feb. 15 that the death of gay DJ and hairstylist Bryan Smith, 39, who police say was assaulted and robbed Oct. 27, 2024, in the 500 block of T Street, N.W., has been ruled a homicide.
Police said Smith was found unconscious at about 5 a.m. on the street where they believed he was assaulted and robbed and taken to a D.C. hospital. A short time later he was transferred at the request of family members while in a coma to a Northern Virginia hospital, where he died on Nov. 7.
āOn Thursday, February 13, 2025, the Northern Virginia Medical Examinerās Office advised that the cause of death for the victim was blunt force trauma and the manner of death a homicide,ā the D.C. police statement says.
The statement notes, as the Washington Blade and other media outlets have reported, that D.C. police on Nov. 14, 2024, arrested two juvenile males, 14 and 16 years of age, on robbery and assault charges in connection with the assault and robbery of Smith.
At the time of the arrest, police said they had evidence showing the two juveniles were implicated in three other assault and robbery incidents that occurred on the same night as the assault and robbery of Smith in nearby locations.
According to the statement, D.C. police detectives are working with the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, which prosecutes crimes committed by juveniles, to determine whether āadditional chargesā should be brought against the two juveniles following the determination that Smithās death was a homicide.
The arrest of the two juveniles was announced by D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith at a Nov. 15 press conference near the site where Smith was attacked.
āWe are here today to announce the arrest of two suspects responsible for a series of robberies in this community on Sunday, Oct. 27, including the robbery of 39-year-old Bryan Smith, who was walking home in the 500 block of T Street, N.W.,ā Chief Smith told reporters attending the press conference.
āOn behalf of the Metropolitan Police Department as well as myself, I send my deepest condolences to Mr. Smithās family as well as his friends,ā Chief Smith said. āWhile nothing can undo this senseless loss, we hope todayās arrests are of some measure of justice and a step toward healing,ā she said.
Chief Smith also said that police investigators had no evidence to indicate the assault and robbery of Bryan Smith was āmotivated by hate or bias.ā
District of Columbia
Town nightclub lawsuit against landlord dismissed in September
Court records show action was by mutual consent

A lawsuit filed in April 2024 by Town 2.0, the company that planned to reopen the popular LGBTQ nightclub Town in a former church on North Capitol Street that accused its landlord of failing to renovate the building as required by a lease agreement was dismissed in a little-noticed development on Sept. 6, 2024.
A document filed in D.C. Superior Court, where the lawsuit was filed against Jemalās Sanctuary LLC, the company that owns the church building, shows that a āStipulation of Dismissal With Prejudiceā was jointly filed by the attorneys representing the two parties in the lawsuit and approved by the judge.
Jemal’s Sanctuary is a subsidiary of the Douglas Development Corporation, one of the city’s largest real estate development firms.
An attorney familiar with civil litigation who spoke to the Washington Blade on condition of not being identified said a stipulation of dismissal indicates the two parties reached a settlement to terminate the lawsuit on conditions that are always confidential and not included in court records.
The attorney who spoke with the Blade said the term āwith prejudiceā means the lawsuit cannot be re-filed again by either of the two parties.
The public court records for this case do not include any information about a settlement or the terms of such a settlement. However, the one-sentence Stipulation Of Dismissal With Prejudice addresses the issue of payment of legal fees.
āPursuant to Rule 41(a) of the District of Columbia Superior Court Civil Rules, Plaintiff Town 2.0 LLC and Defendant Jemalās Sanctuary LLC, by and through their undersigned counsel, hereby stipulate that the lawsuit be dismissed in its entirety, with prejudice, as to any and all claims and counterclaims asserted therein, with each party to bear its own fees and costs, including attorneysā fees.ā
The Town 2.0 lawsuit called for the termination of the lease and at least $450,000 in damages on grounds that Jemalās Sanctuary violated the terms of the lease by failing to complete renovation work on the building that was required to be completed by a Sept. 1, 2020 ādelivery date.ā
In response to the lawsuit, attorneys for Jemalās Sanctuary filed court papers denying the company violated the terms of the lease and later filed a countersuit charging Town 2.0 with violating its requirements under the lease, which the countersuit claimed included doing its own required part of the renovation work in the building, which is more than 100 years old.
Court records show Judge Maurice A. Ross, who presided over the case, dismissed the countersuit at the request of Town 2.0 on Aug. 20, 2024, on grounds that it was filed past the deadline of a three-year statute of limitations for filing such a claim.
Neither the owners of Town 2.0, their attorney, nor the attorney representing Jemalās Sanctuary responded to a request by the Washington Blade for comment on the mutual dismissal of the lawsuit.
Town 2.0 co-owner John Guggenmos, who also owns with his two business partners the D.C. gay bars Trade and Number Nine, did not respond to a question asking if he and his partners plan to open Town 2.0 at another location.
What was initially known as Town Danceboutique operated from 2007 to 2018 in a large, converted warehouse building on 8th Street, N.W., just off Florida Avenue. It was forced to close when the buildingās owner sold it to a developer who built a residential building in its place.
It was the last of the cityās large LGBTQ dance hall nightclubs that once drew large crowds, included live entertainment, and often hosted fundraising events for LGBTQ community organizations and causes.
District of Columbia
Doechii to headline WorldPride closing concert
Grammy winner scheduled for June 8 performance

The Capital Pride Alliance announced last week that Doechii will perform at the closing concert for WorldPride weekend.
Doechii, born Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, is a 26-year-old rapper and singer from Tampa, Fla. Since her emergence on the music scene in 2023, she has had five songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Beginning with āWhat It Is (Block Boy),ā she has quickly risen into the upper ranks of the rap and music industries.
The Capital Pride Alliance, the nonprofit that organizes Washingtonās official Pride events and is overseeing the upcoming WorldPride celebration in June, announced on Instagram that the āAlligator Bites Never Healā performer will headline WorldPrideās free Street Festival & Closing Concert on Sunday, June 8.
This announcement comes just over a month after the self-proclaimed “Swamp Princess” won her first Grammy for Best Rap Album. Her win marks only the third time in history that a woman has won the awardāfollowing Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. She also became only the second rapper to be named Billboardās Woman of the Year earlier this year.
Doechii is bisexual and has spoken about the challenges of being a Black queer woman in the music industry.
āIām a Black woman from the South, so itās different,ā Doechii told Pink News in an interview last year. āThereās a lot of racism and homophobia, so itās hard, itās very, very hard. Even though I was aware, I didnāt feel as comfortable until I started surrounding myself with more gay friends.ā
Doechiiās bold, genre-blending style and unapologetic presence have made her a favorite among LGBTQ fans, who have embraced her music as anthems of self-expression and resilience.
Despite being fairly new to the mainstream music game, Doechii is no stranger to Washington. In June 2024, Doechii performed a special set at D.C.’s gay bar Trade as part of her SWAMP BALL TOUR. That night, a line of fans stretched down 14th Street and around the corner, eager to see the rising star in an intimate setting.
For more information about WorldPride concerts, events, and celebrations, visit worldpridedc.org.
District of Columbia
Suspect pleads guilty to drug sale that led to deaths of two D.C. gay men
Prosecutors say defendant sold victim fentanyl instead of ketamine

A D.C. man pleaded guilty on March 14 in federal court to conspiracy related charges that he distributed large amounts of fentanyl and cocaine in the D.C. metropolitan area, including the sale of fentanyl that resulted in the December 2023 deaths of two D.C. gay men.
A statement released by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia says Jevaughn āLedoā Mark, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
He is scheduled to be sentenced June 13 by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.
The March 14 statement released by the U.S. Attorneyās Office says Mark was initially charged in an indictment with eight counts of unlawful distribution of fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin, and distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl between January and March of 2024.
āOn June 13, 2024, Jevaughn Mark was charged in a second superseding indictment in connection with distributing fentanyl and cocaine on December 26, 2023, that resulted in the deaths of two men, Brandon Roman and Robert Barletta, at their home in Northwest Washington,ā the statement says.
āPursuant to the plea agreement, Mark admitted to causing the death of both individuals by selling āketamineā (which was actually fentanyl) to one victim who shared the drugs with the other victim,ā the U.S. Attorneyās statement says. āBoth men were found unresponsive the day after Mark sold them the āketamine,āā according to the statement.
Roman, 38, a prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Barletta, 28, a historic preservation expert and home renovation business owner, were found unconscious when police and emergency medical personnel responded to a 911 call and arrived at Barlettaās home on Dec. 27, 2023, according to police and fire department reports.
The reports show Roman was declared deceased at the scene and Barletta was taken to the Washington Hospital Center, where he died on Dec. 29, 2023.
Both men were patrons at D.C. gay bars and their passing prompted many in the LGBTQ community to call for stepped up prevention services related to drug overdose cases.
At the time Mark was indicted on drug distribution charges in June 2024, prosecutors said undercover D.C. police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents posing as drug buyers approached Mark during their investigation to purchase Ketamine, which is known on the street as Special K, the U.S. Attorneyās office said in an earlier statement.
āIn each instance, the DEA/MPD agents requested to buy āSpecial Kā or Ketamine from Jevaughn Mark,ā the earlier statement says. āIn every instance, Jevaughn Mark supplied a mixture of fentanyl and other substances, including heroin, but not ketamine,ā it says.
That report of Markās distribution of fentanyl rather than the requested drug of ketamine prompted an official with the D.C.-based group HIPS, which provides services to drug users and sex workers, to call the deaths of Roman and Barletta a āpoisoningā rather than an āoverdose.ā
Court records show Mark has been held without bond since the time of his indictment and arrest in June 2024.
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