D.C. Council intern Alonte Sutton flagged down a police officer while he was being chased by the neighborhood man who would later fatally shoot him, according to charging documents filed in D.C. Superior Court Wednesday.
The body of 18-year-old Sutton was found two days later with multiple gun shoot wounds at the bottom of a small ravine near his home in Southeast Washington.
His accused killer, Omare I. Cotton, 28, was ordered held Wednesday on first-degree murder charges until his preliminary hearing May 27.
The slaying occurred during Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s two-day “All Hands on Deck” effort to flood the streets with uniformed officers.
Police said Cotton and Sutton got into an ongoing argument that escalated Thursday after Sutton refused to give Cotton and his girlfriend a ride, according to the charging affidavit.
The two clashed again on Friday in the 200 block of Newcomb Street SE after Cotton twice slashed the tires to Sutton’s vehicle. Bystanders had to pull them apart and one witness warned Sutton, “Go on before [Cotton] goes and gets his gun,” the charging affidavit said.
Instead, Cotton pulled out a knife and pursued Sutton, police said. The teenager flagged down a police officer, but Cotton disappeared and Sutton left the area without reporting the incident to the officer, documents said.
On Saturday, when Sutton returned to fix his tires, Cotton reappeared and began to assault the teenager and threatened to kill him because he believed Sutton had reported him to police, documents said. Cotton was on probation in Maryland on robbery and first-degree assault convictions.
Witnesses saw Cotton chase Sutton into the woods with a handgun and then later heard gunshots, according to the documents.
Police responded to a report of gunshots but did not find the source of the shootings.
The next morning, on Mother’s Day, police found Sutton’s body in the woods after his family called to report him missing.
Police arrested Cotton on Tuesday and found a glass vial containing what appeared to be PCP. He admitted to slashing Sutton’s tires and getting into fights with Sutton, but denied shooting him.
Police were examining whether the officers who responded to the incidents did thorough investigations.
Sutton was a Ballou High School student who was on track to graduate in June. He had interned for Councilman Michael A. Brown last summer and earned a coveted internship in the 2009-2010 session for the secretary to the council.
