District Man Pleads Guilty in 2020 Murder of Man in Southwest Washington

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Bratrell Hawkins, 29, of Washington, D.C., has pleaded guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed for a January 2020 homicide in Southwest Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Hawkins pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The plea calls for a sentence within the Superior Court Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines. Hawkins is to be sentenced on May 20, 2022, by the Honorable Maribeth Raffinan.

The government’s evidence showed that on the evening of Jan. 4, 2020, inside a residence in the 1400 block of Third Street SW, Hawkins, his girlfriend, and her female friend were socializing with the victim, Xavier Tate, 26. Hawkins and the others were in the living room and were drinking and smoking. The two females went to bed and Hawkins came to join them in the bed. A short while later, an argument ensued between Hawkins and his girlfriend, who ordered Hawkins and her friend out of the bedroom. All three of them went downstairs and continued to argue before the girlfriend ordered them both out of the house.

As the girlfriend and Hawkins were preparing to leave, the girlfriend and Tate went back upstairs. Hawkins retrieved a gun out of a black bag and put the weapon in his coat. He then walked back upstairs. While on the second floor, at approximately 5:25 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2020, Mr. Tate confronted Hawkins about the earlier argument. While arguing, Hawkins shot him several times. At the time, Hawkins was under the mistaken and unreasonable belief that Mr. Tate was reaching for a weapon. Hawkins was arrested on Jan. 9, 2020.