Man Held in Revenge Killing, D.C. Police Say

Father Allegedly Retaliated for Slayings of Son and His Mother

A Southeast Washington man has been arrested in what police say was a revenge killing for the fatal shooting of his 4-year-old son and the boy's mother.

Darius McKeever, 28, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder in the Nov. 17 killing of Raymond Carpenter. Police described Carpenter as a suspect in the slayings of McKeever's son Darius Branch and the child's mother, Turkessa Branch.

The child and his mother were found shot to death Oct. 25 in their apartment in the 3600 block of Ely Place SE. Turkessa Branch, 30, was shot in the head, and Darius was hit in the neck. There were no signs of forced entry into the second-floor unit at the Anacostia Gardens complex.

Detectives believe Carpenter was trying to collect a debt from Branch but ended up killing her, said Inspector Rodney Parks, head of the D.C. police violent crimes branch. Parks said he did not know the nature of the debt.

Witnesses told police that Carpenter was overheard bragging on the streets about the killings, according to a court affidavit filed yesterday.

The child was probably shot simply because he was in the house with his mother, Parks said.

Carpenter, 28, of the 4200 block of H Street SE, was a known drug user and might have been high at the time of the killings, according to police. "He may have been under the influence of PCP," Parks said.

Although police viewed him as the main suspect, they said they did not have enough evidence to charge him.

Then, three weeks after the killings, police found Carpenter's body in the 3100 block of Buena Vista Terrace SE. He had been shot several times.

Police developed leads until this week, when they charged McKeever, of the 4200 block of East Capitol Street SE. At the same time, they closed their investigation into the killings of Turkessa and Darius Branch, tying them to Carpenter.

Parks said he did not know whether Carpenter and McKeever knew each other before Branch and her son were killed.

Yesterday, a judge in D.C. Superior Court ordered that McKeever remain jailed without bond pending a follow-up hearing Jan. 8.