Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Joshua and Christian Benton, two of the five individuals on trial for the July 2008 murder of 13-year-old Alonzo Robinson in Trinidad, were acquitted this morning inside D.C. Superior Court, WTOP reports. The Benton twins had been charged with first-degree murder and assault with intent to kill for allegedly embarking on a shooting spree after a a cross-neighborhood dispute broke out. The jury is still deliberating verdicts against three other individuals — Antonio McAllister, William McCorkle and Marcus Brown — in connection with Robinson’s slaying. The five remaining defendants, all from the Trinidad or Kenilworth-Parkside areas, were arrested in December 2008.

If we may make a recommendation: WTOP’s Gary Emerling has been doing a fine job of late documenting the Robinson case — one of the high-profile violent crimes which led police to institute highly controversial checkpoints around Trinidad — in great detail.