On Thursday, in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, Judge Julie Stevenson Solt sentenced defendant, Demonte Hewitt, 22, of Washington D.C., to 70 years in prison suspending all but 30 years to serve and five years of supervised probation upon release.
According to the Office of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney, “In May of 2024 Hewitt pleaded guilty to Attempted First-Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Murder, First-Degree Assault, Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Assault and Use of a Handgun in Commission of a Crime of Violence.
The charges stem from an incident on June 15, 2022, when Hewitt and two co-defendants chased down a man in Silver Spring at random and shot him. It was captured by surveillance cameras. The victim had just left a birthday celebration at a bar along Georgia Avenue and walked a friend to her vehicle. As he left his friend and began to cross Georgia Avenue to head to his own vehicle, a car pulled up and two men jumped out, dressed all in black, wearing ski masks and gloves, and holding handguns. The men started chasing the victim and he ran for his life. He ran into an alleyway called Mayor Lane as the men and car continued to chase him. They opened fire and hit the victim in the back. Video then shows the car reversing out of the alley onto Silver Spring Avenue and making a left onto Fenton Street. The victim was able to keep running and came upon a police cruiser, yelling “I’ve been shot.” Officers with Montgomery County Police applied a tourniquet to his leg in attempt to stop the bleeding until an ambulance arrived. The victim survived.
- Co-defendant Nathan Barnes pleaded guilty on October 3, 2023, to Armed Robbery and Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Assault. He is currently serving a sentence of 25 years with all but six years suspended, and will have five years of supervised probation upon release.
- Co-defendant Brian Bowen pleaded guilty on May 6, 2024, to Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, Conspiracy to Commit First-Degree Assault and Use of Handgun in Commission of Crime of Violence. He is awaiting sentencing.
Assistant State’s Attorneys Donna Fenton and Rachel Morris prosecuted this case.”