Three teenage girls charged with murder after fatal beating of 67-year-old DC man

On Friday, a 12 and 13-year-old girl were arrested and charged in the beating death of 64-year-old Reggie Brown in Washington DC after their alleged accomplice, another 13-year-old girl, was arrested on Thursday.

According to NBC 4, all three girls were charged with second-degree murder. A video played in court showed the three girls kicking and stomping Brown after detectives said a man in a blue coat threw him to the ground.

The incident took place on Oct. 17 on the 6200 block of Georgia Avenue, just before 1 AM. Brown was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy later determined blunt force trauma was the cause of death.

Brown's niece told the outlet, "My uncle really didn't deserve this." She added, "He was known in this community for years so for this to happen where he lived for 64 [years] is insane. They have to be held accountable!”

Regarding whether the minors would be charged as adults, a spokesperson for the DC attorney general told ABC 7, "Under DC laws protecting the confidentiality of juvenile criminal cases, it is illegal for our office to comment publicly or share any information related to specific juvenile cases." They added, "Per DC law, children under 15 years of age cannot be charged as adults. The maximum sentence for juveniles who are not charged as adults is commitment to the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS) until 21 years of age."

DC councilwoman Kathy Henderson advocated for the city council to revise its laws on minors being charged with crimes, and that parents of the children should also be held accountable. "As long as there's any perception that children are going to be exempt, that you can commit a crime, you can kill someone, you can hijack someone, you can take someone's car, you can kill them, you can do all of these horrific things and then really not be held fully accountable, it's going to continue to happen," Henderson added.

Police also revealed that the accused 12-year-old girl in the incident was shot early morning on Friday. She suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg. Several people were taken into custody in connection to the shooting, but police have not released any information about the case and are offering a $25,000 reward for information relating to the incident.