A Silver Spring man pleaded guilty Wednesday to the fatal shooting of Christian Monje, 29, of Fairfax, Virginia, on Memorial Day 2022 in Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
James Jackson, 30, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed and faces 19 to 23 years in prison, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Jackson’s attorneys, Richard Finci and Jeremy Feldman, both declined Thursday to comment on the case.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Metropolitan Police officers responded around 4:30 a.m. May 30, 2022, to the 1700 block of Rhode Island Ave. NW for a report of gunshots and found Monje on the steps of St. Matthew’s Cathedral suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
He was transported to the hospital and died from his injuries a few weeks later, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Surveillance footage shows an individual approaching Monje while he sat on the church steps, and then later shows that person fleeing into an alley and ducking behind a dumpster, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Detectives found a 9 mm Polymer80 ghost gun, which was later determined to be the murder weapon, by the dumpster, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in America, a ghost gun is a “do-it-yourself, homemade gun made from easy-to-get building blocks that can be purchased with no background check and no questions asked. These guns are made by an individual, not a federally licensed manufacturer or importer.”
The case was unsolved for months until police received a notification from the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) that a DNA profile obtained from the magazine of the gun matched Jackson’s DNA profile, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. The release did not state why Jackson’s DNA profile was on file.
“With this valuable investigative lead, and other evidence obtained in the case, detectives confirmed the defendant’s identity as the murderer,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The second-degree murder while armed charge was filed with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on Dec. 7, 2022, according to digital court records.
Jackson is being held without bond. His sentencing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. May 31, digital court records indicate.