Gang Member Sentenced in Murder of Rival Gang Member at Birthday Party

A Temple Hills teenager was sentenced to 50 years in prison Friday in the shooting death of a Prince George’s County high school student believed to be in a rival gang.

Akil Darnell Ings, 18, of Temple Hills was found guilty in February of second-degree murder in the January 2013 shooting death of 16-year-old Marcus Antonio Jones. The shooting happened outside a birthday party in Fort Washington, and was blamed on a clash between different gangs.

Judge Maureen M. Lamasney reportedly found Ings’ comments after the shooting, described by two witnesses as a boast of “I think I got one,” cold and callous, reports The Washington Post.

Ings is appealing his conviction.

Police said they think Ings belonged to a gang known as Baby Haiti and that Jones, a sophomore at Friendly High School, belonged to a rival group called the Danger Boys.

A witness in the case against Ings, Kquantae M. Fisher, 19, was shot and killed in his home last fall. Police have not filed charges in Fisher’s death, but during Ing’s trial prosecutors cited comments the defendant made to a then-girlfriend calling Fisher “the weakest link” that needed to be eliminated, the Post reports.

Fisher, of the 6100 block of Kildare Court in Fort Washington, was also charged with murder last year in Jones’ death.

Police were called to the 7700 block of Webster Lane on Jan. 20, 2013, for a shooting following a birthday party. Officers found Jones, who had just left the party, outside suffering from a gunshot wound.

Investigators said that rival gang members attended the party. As tensions escalated, additional gang members were called to the party. Ings and Fisher and an unidentified third suspect arrived and approached a group standing outside. Jones, who belonged to a different gang, was standing with this group, police said, when Ings pulled out a gun and shot Jones. It is not known if Jones was the intended target.