A fifth suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder of Shaw Middle School principal Brian Betts, WTOP is reporting. The Washington Post identifies the suspect as Joel Johnson, 19, of an unconfirmed address. Johnson was reportedly arrested Tuesday evening in the 100 block of Ivanhoe Street SW, and is currently being held in the D.C. Jail, awaiting extradition to Montgomery County. more ›

Members of the public are invited to attend a candlelight vigil tonight to honor slain D.C. Council intern Alonte Sutton. Details below, courtesy the office of Council member Michael A. Brown: more ›

WTOP is reporting that D.C. Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of Alonte Sutton. more ›

Statements honoring 18-year-old D.C. Council intern Alonte Sutton are landing in our inbox. Sutton was shot and killed in Southeast D.C. at some point over the weekend, his body discovered Sunday afternoon in a wooded area near the 200 block of Newcomb Street SE. more ›

WTTG/FOX5 reminds us that it's been a year since Durval Martins was shot dead at the corner of 11th and Q streets NW, and police still have no ideas about who is responsible. more ›

The man accused of killing Chandra Levy in Rock Creek Park in 2001 has pleaded not guilty to additional charges of threatening to kill a witness, the Associated Press is reporting. Prosecutors filed the additional charges against Ingmar Guandique earlier this month, citing evidence that Guandique wrote a threatening note to the witness and had someone deliver it. The AP updates that Guandique's lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for him to the new charges during an arraignment today in D.C. Superior Court. Guandique is already serving a 10-year sentence for separate assaults in Rock Creek Park, and is facing first degree murder charges in the death of Levy. more ›

The man who was arrested and charged in the Nov. 14 killing of 9-year-old Oscar Fuentes has been found dead inside his cell in the D.C. Jail, according to a report from WTTG/FOX5. Josue Pena, 26, had been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Fuentes, who died after being shot through the door of his Columbia Heights apartment. The Washington Post reported earlier that paramedics had been called to the jail for a call of an unconscious inmate this afternoon. WTTG says Pena was found hanged inside his cell just after 1 p.m. He was pronounced dead later at Howard University Hospital, with the cause of death determined to be cardiac arrest by asphyxiation. The report also includes these details:

Pena told prosecutors he had a gun in his waist band, but it accidently went off as he walked up the stairs. more ›

One of two suspects sought in the Nov. 7 killing of shopkeeper Rufina Hernandez has been arrested, D.C. police announced last night. Andres Lopez, 45, of no fixed address was taken into custody without incident on Thursday afternoon near 4th and Kennedy Streets NW, only about five blocks from La Casa de Morata liquor store. Hernandez was shot and killed that Saturday night during the course of a robbery. Two suspects are believed to have entered the store and demanded money, a request with which Hernandez complied, but one of the suspects shot her anyway. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier declined to indicate whether Lopez is believed to be the shooter, but reiterated that the search for the second suspect continues. "We look forward to getting help from the community," Lanier said. "There is still work to do." more ›

The fatal shooting of 9-year-old Oscar Fuentes inside his Columbia Heights apartment on Saturday night was not gang-related, according to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. Lanier, along with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham, this morning announced the arrest of Josue Pena, 26, in the killing. Pena has been charged with first degree murder. more ›

As we noted in the Morning Roundup, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier are making their way to the 1400 block of Columbia Rd. NW right now in order to announce that an arrest has been made in the killing of 9-year-old Oscar Fuentes. The Post says the man who was arrested is Josue Pena, 26, who was taken into custody in Hyattsville just before 6 a.m. this morning. No more details on the arrest are available just yet, but check back in after the 10 a.m. press conference. more ›

D.C. Police officers shot and killed a man in Southeast D.C. at about 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. Police were responding to what appears to be a strange 911 call to 1767 Trenton Place SE, not far from the Southern Ave. Metro station, when the shooting occurred. more ›

Over at the Washington Blade, Lou Chibbaro, Jr. reports that the man who has been charged with misdemeanor assault in the beating death of Tony Randolph Hunter may be about to negotiate a plea bargain that could reduce or eliminate the time he spends in jail. D.C. resident Robert Hannah had initially been charged with voluntary manslaughter, but the charges against him were later reduced, and now the suspect might end up not even serving the maximum 180 days in jail associated with that crime. Hunter, a gay Maryland man, died last year after an altercation with Hannah near the former BeBar gay bar in the Shaw neighborhood. The killing has been charged with controversy due to Hannah's claim that Hunter sexually assaulted him prior to the attack. A friend of Hunter's who was with him at the time has maintained that Hannah's actions were unprovoked. more ›

A quick update on last night's quadruple shooting in the Brightwood Park area. Four people were shot, one fatally, in the 900 block of Hamilton Street NW, and now police have released the identity of the deceased: Michael Harris, 24, of the 4000 block of 4th Street NW, was shot and killed at around 6:30 p.m. last night, WJLA reports. At least one of the other three victims is reported to have sustained serious injuries as well. The shooting appears to have erupted due to some kind of argument. "A relative of Harris told ABC 7 News the victims were all friends and were just hanging out when the violence erupted." Police were searching for an older model blue station wagon in the area last night in relation to the shooting. more ›