DNA on shell casings links suspects to congressional intern’s murder
Update...
Strong DNA evidence from shell casings has directly linked two teenagers to the fatal shooting of congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21. The Massachusetts intern died July 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C., after being struck four times as an innocent bystander in a June 30 drive-by attack near the convention center. Three suspects — Jailen Lucas, 17, Kelvin Thomas Jr., 17, and Naqwan Antonio Lucas, 18 — fired on two young men from a stolen vehicle, also wounding a 16-year-old male and a woman. Lucas and Thomas were arrested September 5, 2025; Naqwan Lucas was arrested October 29, 2025, reports say.
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WASHINGTON — Strong DNA evidence recovered from shell casings has directly linked two teenagers to the fatal shooting of congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, prosecutors told a D.C. Superior Court judge.
Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts, a University of Massachusetts Amherst student interning in the office of Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., was struck by four bullets and died on July 1, 2025, one day after the drive-by attack near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
On June 30, 2025, three armed individuals exited a stolen vehicle on the 1200 block of 7th Street NW and opened fire on two young men on a bicycle in what authorities described as a targeted dispute between rival groups. Tarpinian-Jachym, an innocent bystander, was among those hit, along with a 16-year-old male and a woman who suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Investigators recovered 79 cartridge casings from the scene.
During a status hearing on April 10, 2026, government attorneys disclosed that forensic testing on the shell casings produced an “overwhelming statistical match” to Jailen Lucas, 17. Additional DNA evidence also ties Kelvin Thomas Jr., 17, to the shooting. Two rounds of DNA testing have been completed, with further expert testimony on DNA analysis, ballistics and fingerprint evidence expected at trial.
Lucas and Thomas, both charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed, were arrested on September 5, 2025, by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and U.S. Marshals Service. A third suspect, Naqwan Antonio Lucas, 18, was arrested later and faces the same charges.
The case remains ongoing.
(Note: A separate homicide involving 17-year-old Zoey Kelley occurred on July 4, 2025 — four days later — and the third suspect, Naqwan Antonio Lucas, faces charges in both that killing and the intern’s death. However, Zoey Kelley, who was black, was not a victim of the June 30 shooting.)
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