A teen who pleaded guilty for her role in the fatal beating of an elderly disabled man testified Tuesday that she and her friends chased down and brutally assaulted the victim because they were "bored."
Reggie Brown, a 64-year-old disabled Black man, was beaten to death by a group of five teenage girls in an alley in the Brightwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C in Oct. 2023. Two of the girls, who range from 12 to 15, have pleaded guilty to their roles in the attack. One, a 15-year-old, testified as a key witness in the ongoing trial of two other girls charged in Brown's murder.
According to her testimony, the teens, ranging from 12 to 15 years old, had been hanging out at a skate park, when she suggested they "find someone to beat up."
Prosecutor Gabrielle Logaglio asked, "Why did you suggest that to the group?" according to reporting by WUSA9.
"Because we were bored," the girl answered.
Later, the girls encountered Brown, who was already being attacked by an unidentified man. They asked the man's permission to join in, and when he agreed, the girls ran after Brown, pulling him from a chain link fence as he attempted to escape.
Surveillance footage showed the teens chasing and beating Brown. Additional footage, recorded by the 15-year-old's younger sister on a cell phone, captures the repeated taunts of the girls as they assaulted a defenseless Brown who lay on the pavement, bleeding.
"Damn, you leakin'!" mocks one girl in the disturbing video.
According to the 15-year-old's testimony, she was aware of Brown's condition as the teens left the scene.
"Do you remember what you were thinking when you walked back to the alley?" Logaglio asked.
"He's dead," she testified.
According to earlier testimony from Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Sasha Breland, Brown died from bleeding in his brain caused by blunt force head trauma, WUSA9 reported.
The maximum sentence for juveniles in D.C. is imprisonment up to the age of 21. Last week, one of the two girls to enter a guilty plea was sentenced to three years in prison.
Originally published on Latin Times.
