Two Teens Charged In Barber's Slaying

D.C. police have arrested two teens in the killing last week of a 75-year-old barber who was robbed and shot in his Southeast Washington shop.

Richard Durham, 18, of the 7500 block of Crestwood Court in Brandywine and Demario Porter, 16, of the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road SE were charged yesterday with felony murder while armed.

The teens are to be arraigned today. Officers are investigating the case and said there is a possibility of more arrests.

Porter, who is being charged as an adult, was in custody on an unrelated matter, officers said. They could not elaborate because he was charged as a juvenile, and such records are sealed.

The barber, William Jesse Little, was described as a generous man with strong roots in the Anacostia neighborhood where he worked. His shop, Little's Beauty and Barber Shop, is in the 1400 block of Howard Road in Anacostia.

Little lived on Alabama Avenue SE, about a mile and a half away.

A customer found Little about 11 a.m. June 15 shortly after the barber's wife had dropped him off to open the shop for the day, authorities said.

Police said Little was a committed business owner and never wanted to leave the Anacostia area, even in the 1990s, when crime was rampant.

He was known for giving neighborhood kids haircuts even when they couldn't pay, officers said.

Lt. Robert Glover, of the department's violent crimes branch, said investigators made the arrests after getting tips from community members.