Two Found Guilty in Brutal Revenge Kidnappings and Murders That Occurred Three Days After Christmas 2017

WASHINGTON - Malique Lewis, 26, and Marcel Vines, 28, were found guilty by a federal jury in the armed kidnappings of Armani Nico Coles and Kerrice Lewis in Washington, D.C., on December 28, 2017, which resulted in the brutal revenge killings of both victims later that evening.

The verdict, handed up yesterday, followed a four-week trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division.

U.S. District Court Judge Dabney L. Friedrich will schedule sentencing for Lewis, aka "Freak," and Vines, aka "Baby Boy," in the coming days. Both men face two consecutive mandatory-minimum sentences of life imprisonment.

According to the government's evidence at trial, Lewis and Vines conspired with a third co-defendant to kidnap and kill Nico Coles and Kerrice Lewis, who has no relation to defendant Lewis, out of a desire for revenge. Earlier that day, the victims' friend shot and killed the defendants' friend, Ronzay Green. The defendants knew who killed Green and decided to retaliate against that man, travelling across the city to his neighborhood to look for him. When they arrived, they saw Ms. Lewis, who they recognized as friends with the man who killed Green, and began to follow her. Between approximately 2:45 and 3:00 pm, at an AutoZone parking lot in the 900 block of Longfellow Street Northwest, the defendants kidnapped Kerrice Lewis. Armed with an assault rifle and a .45 caliber firearm, Lewis and Vines held Ms. Lewis in the backseat of her own vehicle while they drove her car across the city with the intent that she would lure the man who killed Green to them.

Unsuccessful, the defendants then used Ms. Lewis' phone to lure Nico Coles to a location near First and Kennedy Streets Northwest, believing Mr. Coles could lead them to the man responsible for Green's murder. At approximately 6:00 p.m. that same evening, the defendants kidnapped Nico Coles. They forced Mr. Coles into the backseat of Ms. Lewis' car and forced Ms. Lewis into the trunk of her own car. As the defendants drove Ms. Lewis' vehicle towards their Clay Terrace neighborhood, they encountered traffic on Interstate 295 in Maryland. While in traffic, the defendants shot Mr. Coles twice, and then pushed the mortally injured man from the car onto the highway, leaving him on the shoulder of the Interstate as they fled into D.C.

Approximately an hour later, the defendants drove Ms. Lewis' vehicle, with Ms. Lewis still confined in her trunk, to an alley behind the 800 block of Adrian Street Southeast. The defendants then opened the trunk, shot Ms. Lewis at least 13 times, and set her remains and her vehicle on fire, before fleeing the scene.

Analysis of the ballistic evidence from both scenes indicated that the same two firearms, a .45 caliber and a 7.62mm caliber, were used to kill both victims. Additionally, law enforcement recovered fingerprints from an item that was pushed out of Ms. Lewis' car along with Mr. Coles' body. Analysis of those fingerprints identified two prints as belonging to defendant Vines. The night after the murders, Lewis was captured on video at a McDonald's drive-through, driving Mr. Coles' missing vehicle. Shortly after the murders, Lewis also made statements, via text, bragging about them by sending news articles and saying, "we ain't done". Lewis and Vines were both arrested on January 5, 2018, on unrelated charges. Shortly thereafter, Lewis was charged by Prince George's County States Attorney's Office with the murder of Mr. Coles. In August 2018, Lewis and Vines were charged in D.C. Superior Court with both murders. The case was removed to federal court on May 23, 2019. Both defendants have been in custody since their arrest in January 2018.

This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, Prince George's County Police Department, and the FBI's Washington Field Office, with additional assistance provided by the United States Marshals Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberley Nielsen, George Eliopoulos, and Colleen Kukowski of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.