Previously Convicted Man Pleads Guilty to 2022 Murder of Woman in Broad Daylight

WASHINGTON - Johnwann Elliott, 31, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to charges of second-degree murder while armed and attempted assault with a dangerous weapon for the 2022 murder of Nikia Young, 37, in Southeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

The guilty plea, which is contingent upon the Court's approval, calls for an agreed upon 21-year prison sentence, to be followed by five years of supervised release. The Honorable Maribeth Raffinan of the D.C. Superior Court scheduled sentencing for March 14, 2025.

According to the government's evidence, at approximately 11:59 a.m., on March 15, 2022, the defendant exited a Metro bus at Minnesota Avenue and White Place Southeast and walked southwest toward the intersection of Minnesota Avenue and 23^rd Street Southeast. At the same time, Nikia Young and another individual were walking northeast on Minnesota Avenue toward the same intersection. As Ms. Young and the other person crossed 23^rd Street, the defendant walked up to them in the crosswalk and, in broad daylight, used a 380-caliber handgun to shoot Ms. Young from a close distance. The defendant fired seven times and struck Ms. Young five times-once in her face, three times in the chest, and once in the right hip. The defendant then fled the scene on foot, running and catching the same Metro bus that he had exited approximately two minutes earlier.

The defendant was arrested on May 19, 2022, inside of a hotel in Northeast Washington, D.C. and has been in custody ever since. At the time the defendant committed these offenses, he was on release pending trial in D.C. Superior Court for the unauthorized use of a vehicle and was on supervised release after serving a prison sentence for a robbery conviction in the same court.

This case was investigated by the Homicide Branch of the Metropolitan Police Department. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Lindhorst investigated and indicted the case. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles R. Jones.