Washington robbed drug dealers, “because they play the same game I play,’’ he said Tuesday. Omar had his code, and so did Washington, he claimed. “Robberies are a tough thing to do,’’ he said. The crime had rules, and he followed them, he said.
Stealing drugs and cash from dealer Simba Martin was all defendant Dwayne Moore’s idea, Washington said. He “didn’t care to know’’ who the target was, but he was “all for it.’’
Instead of planning, Washington spent the hours leading up to the robbery at his mother’s house drinking Hennessy, smoking pot, and watching friends play video games.
Still, during the robbery on Sutton Street, he believed he could control things, making promises to the victims that were later broken in the most horrific way.
When Washington ordered Martin and his customer, Marcus Hurd, to strip in the street - “To make sure they had no weapons’’ - Hurd said he was only there to buy some weed. “Just be cool, and you’ll be all right,’’ Washington said he reassured him. “As long as you cooperate, nothing bad will happen,’’ he said he told Levaughn Washum-Garrison, who was sleeping on Martin’s couch.
He said he was “shocked’’ to see Martin’s girlfriend, Eyanna Flonory, and her son, Amanihotep Smith, 2 in the living room. “I told her, ‘Look in my face,’ ’’ Washington said. “I told her nothing was going to happen to her.’’
Before leaving, Washington made what he called “my little speech.’’ He told Martin and the others “My name is Point . . . If they wanted to retaliate, look for me at [Columbia] Point.’’ That was only fair, Washington said.
That’s some serious bravado. And an HBO-worthy narrative. But whether it’s true or not, it’s fake. Washington couldn’t control what happened that night. He couldn’t keep anybody in that house from harm. And everybody on Sutton Street that night - except the 2-year-old boy, too young to choose - was taking an astronomical risk by being there.
