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DNA evidence has linked two of the teenagers charged in the shooting death of a University of Massachusetts student who was working as a congressional intern in Washington, D.C. last summer, prosecutors alleged.
Government attorneys told Washington, D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson during a Friday status hearing that testing on shell casings recovered at the scene produced an “overwhelming statistical match” to Jailen Lucas, and that DNA also ties Kelvin Thomas to the shooting.
The two suspects, who were both 17 at the time of the shooting, are charged as adults with first-degree murder while armed in the killing of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, Massachusetts.
SUSPECT IN MURDERS OF CONGRESSIONAL INTERN AND 17-YEAR-OLD ARRESTED MONTHS AFTER SHOOTINGS: OFFICIAL
Two rounds of DNA testing have been completed, prosecutors said, and additional expert testimony is expected at trial on DNA analysis, ballistics and fingerprint evidence.
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Tarpinian-Jachym, a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was shot June 30, near the intersection of 7th and M Street NW in Washington.
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He was spending the summer in Washington as a congressional intern for Rep. Ron Estes, a Republican from Kansas.
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Authorities say three armed suspects exited a stolen vehicle and opened fire at two individuals in the area.
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Tarpinian-Jachym, who was not involved, was struck four times. He died the following day.
Lucas and Thomas were arrested Sept. 5. On Oct. 31, a third suspect, identified as 18-year-old Naqwan Antonio Lucas of the District of Columbia, was arrested in Montgomery Village and also charged in Tarpinian-Jachym’s murder.
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A pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 15. The trial is expected to begin in February. Tarpinian-Jachym’s mother declined to comment when reached out to by Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
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