Killer of Takoma Park man in 2021 sentenced to 18 years in prison

Bystander was shot while walking with wife, friends after dinner in Northwest Washington, D.C.

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April 16, 2026 5:13 p.m.

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A Washington, D.C., man who shot and killed 53-year-old Jeremy Black of Takoma Park in June 2021 in the District has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, according to a Friday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Dearay Wilson, 30, was sentenced Friday by Judge Neal Kravitz in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia after pleading guilty in February to second-degree murder while armed, the release said. After his release from prison, Wilson is expected to serve five years of supervised probation and must register as a gun offender.

Thomas Healy, an attorney for Wilson, wrote in an emailed statement to Bethesda Today on Thursday that while he and Wilson “believed a shorter sentence would have been sufficient given [Wilson’s] youth and demonstrated rehabilitation, we respect the Court’s decision.”

Black’s killing occurred around 9 p.m. on June 29, 2021, in the 1400 block of R Street Northwest, according to a release and the Metropolitan Police Department. He had been walking in the neighborhood near Logan Circle with his wife and two friends after eating dinner at a nearby restaurant when shots rang out.

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Black was struck once in his left torso and later died at the scene, according to the Department of Justice release. Black worked in the inspector general’s office of the Peace Corps, The Washington Post reported.

According to the Department of Justice release, Wilson was one of four people who were riding in a stolen vehicle that stopped at Johnson Avenue Northwest where the group fired more than 45 rounds of bullets into a busy street. Authorities say the group was targeting another group of people outside an apartment building.

Wilson and the others involved fled the scene shortly after the shooting in the vehicle, according to the release. In November 2021, Wilson was arrested by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The release did not provide details about the other three people riding with Wilson and whether they were arrested or faced any legal repercussions in connection to the shooting.

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Healy said called the killing a “tragic and senseless loss of life,” and noted that Wilson “never contested that reality.” According to Healy, Wilson has expressed remorse to the Black family and accepted full responsibility for his actions.

“Mr. Wilson remains committed to accountability, personal growth, and emerging from this sentence as a better person than he was at its beginning,” Healy wrote.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine