Teen convicted in attacks on Washington Post, food delivery men
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Version 0 of 1. A D.C. teenager was convicted Thursday of severely beating a Washington Post delivery man, then stabbing a Chinese food delivery man four days later. Cephus Hollis, who is now 18, stole cars from both men and caused serious injuries to both, a jury found on Thursday. Prosecutors said during Hollis’s trial, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, that Hollis and another person first stole a car on Sept. 7, 2014, in the Riggs Park neighborhood of Northeast Washington. That same night, they drove around in the stolen car, attempting to steal several other vehicles. Then early on the morning of Sept. 8, the pair saw a 62-year-old man delivering the Washington Post. They followed him, and when he got out on the 5800 block of Eastern Avenue NE to toss a paper on a doorstep, Hollis slipped into the front seat of the man’s car. When the man got back to his car, prosecutors said, Hollis demanded his keys. The delivery man said no, and Hollis then punched and kicked him. Hollis’s companion joined in the beating. They broke the man’s wrist and the bones around his eye, and dislocated his shoulder, prosecutors said. They took his car, and eventually abandoned it in the street when it ran out of gas a few days later. On Sept. 12, prosecutors said, Hollis or someone else using his cell phone called to order Chinese food, to be delivered to Hollis’s home. When the driver walked up to the house, Hollis stabbed him in the head without saying a word, prosecutors said. They said that the man fell to the ground, where Hollis stabbed him repeatedly before the man managed to run to his car and lock himself inside. But Hollis had taken his car keys. Hollis unlocked the vehicle, got inside, and stabbed the driver again. The man was stabbed at least seven times. He suffered numerous lacerations and a partially punctured lung, according to prosecutors. Hollis got away in his car, which police found the next day. Hollis was not arrested until May 2015. He has been in jail since his arrest. He will be sentenced by a federal judge on 15 counts, including assault with intent to kill, on January 22. |