Judge Sentences Maryland Man to Prison Term for Killing Woman Retrieving Personal Items from His Girlfriend’s Apartment

WASHINGTON - Amard Jefferson, 26, of Ft. Washington, MD, was sentenced today, to 27 years in prison, for the August 2021 murder of 20-year-old Kendall Brown and obstruction of justice for trying to convince his girlfriend to tell authorities that she killed Kendall Brown - not him, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

On December 20, 2024, a jury found Jefferson guilty of second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license and obstructing justice. In addition to the prison term, Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt ordered Jefferson to serve three years of supervised release.

According to the government's evidence, at approximately 4:28 p.m., on August 7, 2021, in the 3000 block of Nelson Place, Southeast, Ms. Brown and two others went to the apartment of Jefferson's girlfriend to retrieve personal items that one of them left behind after moving out of the apartment. While there, a verbal argument occurred. Jefferson, who was not initially involved in the verbal argument, escalated the argument by introducing and reaching for his firearm and threatening the women that he was going to "call his men." Shortly thereafter, and without cause or justification, the defendant shot Ms. Brown. After locking the victim into the apartment, the defendant fled with his girlfriend. As he fled the crime scene, he stashed the murder weapon -- a black 9mm ghost gun - in a drainpipe a few blocks away. Jefferson continued his efforts to prevent legal accountability a few days after his arrest when he attempted, through text messages and phone calls from the D.C. Department of Corrections, to convince his girlfriend to affirmatively and falsely take blame for the murder.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Martin and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case form the U.S. Attorney's Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Han, Paralegal Specialists Sharon Newman, Meredith McGarrity, Lashone Samuels, and Lisa Minott, Victim/Witness Advocate Christie Bloodworth, Investigative Analyst Zach McMenamin, Security Specialist Robert Cephas, Supervisory Victim/Witness Services Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington, Shanika McCullough, and Maenylie Watson, Special Agents Matthew Fox-Moles, Eric Pauta, and Sean Ricardi.

Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Kukowski, who investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Clark and Stephanie Dinan, who prosecuted the case.