SE Man Is Given 35 Years in Prison For Fatal Shooting Over Jacket in '04

A Southeast Washington man was sentenced yesterday to a 35-year prison term for killing a man who refused to surrender a $75 North Face jacket.

The victim, Anthony Boone, 21, had gotten the jacket from his mother two months earlier as a Christmas present. Prosecutors said he was attacked in daylight Feb. 27, 2004, by Robert McMillian, who demanded the coat.

McMillian, 34, was convicted in October of second-degree murder while armed and appeared yesterday before D.C. Superior Court Judge Erik P. Christian, who gave him the maximum penalty.

"Over a coat," the judge said. "This was completely senseless."

Boone was on his way to work when he was accosted at 11 a.m. at a bus stop at 13th and Savannah streets SE, not far from his home. Prosecutors said McMillian jumped out of a van and pulled out a gun when Boone would not turn over the jacket. He shot Boone in the left eye, then jumped back in the van and drove away, leaving Boone, still wearing his jacket, bleeding on the sidewalk, prosecutors said.

As he did during the trial, McMillian maintained his innocence.

"I don't wear flashy clothes, your honor. I would not shoot anyone or kill anyone," McMillian said, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with his ankles and wrists shackled. "I know I have a bad background, but I did my time for that."

Prosecutors said McMillian has been arrested 15 times since 1992 and convicted six times for thefts and assaults.

Public defender Lloyd Nolan, McMillian's attorney, said that his client was employed at the time of the shooting and that he had no motive to commit the crime.

The popular North Face jackets come in various styles, with prices reaching up to $500. The jackets were the target of a rash of thefts a few years ago. In 2005, a group of teenagers in the District was arrested, accused of holding up other youths and stealing North Face down jackets.

Boone's cousin Keyohna Wallace spoke at the sentencing, telling the judge that her family knew McMillian from the neighborhood and considered him "part of our family." She said he should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The victim's mother, Clarisse Culbreath, echoed that view, telling the judge that she wanted McMillian to remain locked up for as long as possible. That "won't bring my son back," she said, "but it will ensure no other family has to go through what I have been through."

Culbreath later said that the past four years had been difficult but that she was satisfied with the outcome in court. "Justice has been served," she said.