District Man Sentenced to 15-Year Prison Term For March 2024 Armed Carjacking in Deanwood

WASHINGTON - Maurice Edwards, 22, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for a March 2024 armed carjacking in the Deanwood neighborhood of Northeast Washington, D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Edwards was found guilty of one count of armed carjacking and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence by a D.C. Superior Court jury on November 21, 2024.

Edwards was sentenced to 15 years of incarceration for armed carjacking and five years of incarceration for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, with those sentences to run concurrently, for a total of 15 years in prison. Armed carjacking carries a 15 year mandatory minimum sentence and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence carries a five year mandatory minimum sentence. The Court denied Edwards' request to apply the Youth Rehabilitation Act ("YRA"), which would have voided the mandatory minimums, noting that Edwards already once received a YRA sentence and was out on pretrial release for a separate gun offense at the time he committed this armed carjacking.

According to the government's evidence, on the evening of March 11, 2024, Edwards drove a car through a stop sign and struck the victim's vehicle at the intersection of a residential neighborhood at 48^th Place and Lee Street Northeast, as the victim was driving home from work. Edwards and his then-girlfriend, co-defendant Auzsa Beatty, got out of their car and began yelling at the victim. Edwards then used a handgun to intimidate the victim, causing the victim to retreat from his driver's side door, allowing Beatty to get into the driver's seat of the victim's car and drive off.

Beatty pleaded guilty to unarmed carjacking and was sentenced to seven years in prison on January 9, 2026.

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

This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony Cocuzza and Mark Levy.

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