A Washington, D.C. teenager who fired more than 20 rounds into his own Northwest Washington community in May — wounding a young boy who was playing basketball at a recreation center — will not serve prison time. Darius Drew, 19, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to probation on Friday, November 13, 2026, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced, in a decision the government opposed at every step.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia (justice.gov)

Drew had pleaded guilty on August 10, 2026, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to one count of aggravated assault and one count of carrying a pistol without a license. At sentencing, the government asked the court to impose five years in prison — the top of Drew’s sentencing guidelines — because of what prosecutors called his indiscriminate conduct, including firing over twenty rounds of ammunition into the community from two different locations.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia (justice.gov)

What happened on May 11, 2026

According to the government’s evidence, on May 11, 2026, Drew was spotted riding a Lime bike into an alley in the 700 block of Taylor Street, Northwest. A short time later, ShotSpotter — the gunshot-detection system — alerted to the sound of ten gunshots, and surveillance video captured Drew firing a gun at a car parked in the alley, prosecutors say.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia (justice.gov)

Seconds later, in the 4100 block of 9th Street Northwest, Drew again fired a gun, this time toward a house near the alley, according to the government’s evidence. One of those rounds struck a boy who was playing basketball at a nearby recreation center. The boy sustained injuries to his leg. In total, prosecutors say, Drew fired over 20 rounds of ammunition into the community that day.

The boy who was wounded is a minor. He is not named in the U.S. Attorney’s announcement, and Awaaz Punjab does not identify minor victims; what is on the public record is that he was playing basketball at a neighbourhood recreation center in Northwest Washington and was injured in the leg. No further official update on his condition has been published in the sources for this report.

Guns and suspected drugs found at his home

A search warrant later executed at Drew’s home resulted in the recovery of two firearms, ammunition, and large amounts of suspected narcotics and marijuana, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The announcement included photographs of the firearms law enforcement recovered from the defendant’s bedroom.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia (justice.gov)

Drew was arrested on May 22, 2026 — eleven days after the shooting — and he remained in custody from that arrest until the day of sentencing, nearly six months later, when the court ordered his release over the government’s objection.

Why the judge chose the Youth Rehabilitation Act

Superior Court Judge Jennifer Di Toro sentenced Drew to serve 24 months in prison, but suspended the execution of that sentence and placed him on 18 months of supervised probation. The court sentenced him under the District’s Youth Rehabilitation Act — a law that allows judges to give younger offenders a rehabilitative sentence instead of the full prison term — and did so over the government’s objection, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The suspended sentence is the other side of the deal: the 24-month term hangs over the probation, and a violation of his supervised probation can bring the case back before the court.

What happens next is supervision, not a cell. Drew begins 18 months of supervised probation following his release on November 13, and his compliance will be monitored by the court; the government, which asked for five years and objected both to the Youth Rehabilitation Act sentence and to his release, has put its disagreement on the public record through U.S. Attorney Pirro’s announcement. For the Northwest Washington neighbourhood where the shots were fired — the 700 block of Taylor Street NW and the 4100 block of 9th Street NW — the case closes with the shooter back in the community under court supervision, and a young basketball player’s injury answered with probation rather than prison.