DC man sentenced to over 7 years for armed robberies

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — A 21-year-old man from D.C. will spend more than seven years in prison for robbing businesses at gunpoint in 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) announced Monday.

Damion Byrd was sentenced to 90 months in prison for the armed robberies of a convenience store and a fast food restaurant on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14, 2022.

On Dec. 13, 2022, at 11:41 p.m., Byrd entered a convenience store in the 2300 block of Rhode Island Ave. NE and asked an employee for juice. The worker told him that the juice was in the refrigerators. Byrd got a bottle of water and walked toward the counter, where he tossed down a $1 bill.

He then pointed a gun at the employee and said “I need the money, all the money you have,” according to the USAO.

The employee complied, emptying the register and handing over the cash.

Just an hour later on Dec. 14, 2022, at 12:43 a.m., Byrd drove to the drive-thru window of a McDonald’s on the 3900 block of Minnesota Avenue NE. He got out of the sedan, pointed a gun at the cashier and said, “Open the register and I won’t shoot.”

The employee ran away and Byrd reached into the window, grabbed the cash register and drove off.

He was arrested in the District on Jan. 11, 2023, and pled guilty to two counts of interference with interstate commerce by robbery a year after the incidents, on Dec. 20, 2023.

After his sentence, Byrd will serve three years of supervised release.

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