Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for 2020 Shooting of Girlfriend’s Former Friend

WASHINGTON - Daniel Cary, 31, of Fort Washington, Maryland, was sentenced today to nine years in prison for charges stemming from the shooting of his then-girlfriend Chantel Stewart's former friend in July 2020, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Cary pleaded guilty to aggravated assault while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence on November 20, 2025, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Judge Rainey Brandt ordered Stewart to serve the prison term on February 13, 2026. Co-defendant Chantel Stewart, 34, also pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and received a one-year suspended sentence.

According to the government's evidence, on July 22, 2020, as the victim was driving near 108 Atlantic Street SE, Stewart pulled her car up to the victim's car and warned the victim, "he's about to shoot you." Cary, Stewart's boyfriend, then pulled a mask over his face, got out of the passenger seat of Stewart's car, and fired a semi-automatic weapon 5 times at the victim's car. One shot went through the victim's car door and struck her in the back.

The victim, through sheer force of will, drove herself to the hospital, where she underwent multiple surgeries and survived.

Joining the announcement was Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Pirro and Interim Chief Carroll commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They acknowledged the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Miles Janssen, who investigated the case; former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel Brower and Ella Gladman, who prosecuted the case; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Claire Hoover, who handled the case.

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