DNA Links Teens to D.C. Congressional Intern Killing, Prosecutors Say

Prosecutors in Washington, D.C. told Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson at a recent status hearing that DNA recovered from shell casings provides an 'overwhelming statistical match' to 17‑year‑old Jailen Lucas and also links co‑defendant Kelvin Thomas Jr. to the June 30, 2025 shooting that killed 21‑year‑old congressional intern and UMass Amherst student Eric Tarpinian‑Jachym near 7th and M Street NW. Lucas and Thomas, both 17 at the time of the incident, are charged as adults with first‑degree murder while armed, accused along with a third suspect, 18‑year‑old Naqwan Antonio Lucas, of exiting a stolen vehicle and opening fire on two people, with Tarpinian‑Jachym — not involved in the dispute — struck four times and dying the next day. Government attorneys said two rounds of DNA testing have been completed and that trial testimony will include additional experts on DNA analysis, ballistics and fingerprints, signaling a heavily forensic case. The third suspect, Naqwan Lucas, was arrested in October in Montgomery Village, Maryland, months after the others were taken into custody in early September. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 15 and the trial is expected to begin in February, as the killing of a young Hill intern continues to fuel online debate over juvenile violent crime and safety in downtown Washington.