[UPDATE, Tuesday 1:15 PM: Prosecutors at Green's bail review this morning said Fenner was beaten and shot "for an unauthorized gang shooting." He had left his home with Williams, indicating that they may have known each other or were associates. According to charging documents, Williams confessed and said the pair were supposed to punish Fenner by beating him, but that Green took out a gun and shot him in the head. Williams told detectives that they were all members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang, and prior court documents have indicated some sort of connection between YGF and BGF. I'm told the investigation is continuing.]
Police have arrested two suspects in the killing of a reputed gang leader who was gunned down in a Charles Village alley earlier this month.
Tavon Williams, 25, and Byron Green, 28, were arrested in connection with the March 12 death of 22-year-old Donatello Fenner, who was said to be a ranking member of the Young Gorilla Family gang and was found shot to death in the 2600 block of N. Charles St.
Details of the arrest were not immediately available, but they bring, for now, a resolution to one of two recent murders in the Charles Village/Remington area, where homeowners pay extra taxes for private security and street cleaning. Three days after Fenner was shot, 37-year-old Asia Carter was killed in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of N. Howard St. and W. 25th St. Police did not believe those cases were linked.
Fenner has eluded serious prison time, but in June 2008, Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III singled him out as a "catalyst for violence" and someone police were watching as part of an increased effort to target the city's most violent people. The Barclay neighborhood, where YGF was said to be based, accounted for 10 killings in 2007 alone.
Fenner was charged a few months later with attempted murder, stemming from a May 2008 shooting in which police say a man was led into an alley by people he knew and shot at. The charges were dropped by prosecutors in August 2009, and he was released. In November, he was picked up on an assault charge and was awaiting a March 25 court date.
In a recent interview, Fenner's aunt denied that he was a gang member and said he was trying to turn his life around. She said police were harassing him with frequent stops and raids.
Court records show Green was charged with attempted first-degree murder and armed carjacking in 2005, charges which were dismissed in 2007. Williams was charged in September 2008 with possessing a handgun in a vehicle, and the charges were later dropped. Williams was awaiting a May trial on drug distribution charges.