D.C. Man Pleads Guilty to 2025 Murder and Sexual Assault Charges
Javier Montgomery faces 26 to 40 years in prison under a plea agreement, with sentencing scheduled for January 2027.
3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 15, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET
Javier Montgomery, 18, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty on August 14, 2026, to murder and sexual assault charges in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, according to official records released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Under a plea agreement, Montgomery faces a combined sentencing range of 26 to 40 years in prison. Final sentencing is scheduled for January 15, 2027.
According to official records, Montgomery pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed for the October 3, 2025, fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jermaine Durbin. Records state that at approximately 7:20 p.m., Montgomery robbed Durbin of his backpack at gunpoint near the Rhode Island Avenue metro station and shot him when Durbin followed to retrieve it. Metropolitan Police Department officers located Durbin at 600 Rhode Island Avenue, NE, where DC Fire & EMS personnel pronounced him deceased at 7:36 p.m.
In a second case, Montgomery pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse while armed, third-degree sexual abuse, robbery, and attempted third-degree sexual abuse. According to official records, Montgomery admitted to committing sexual assaults and robbery at gunpoint against three victims between May 2025 and September 2025. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro stated that Montgomery carried out a pattern of violence and that the conviction ensures full accountability. The cases were investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Roberts and Katherine Ballou.
Earlier reports
Aug 15, 2026, 1:06 p.m. ET
D.C. Man Pleads Guilty in Murder and Sexual Abuse Cases; No Sentence Yet Imposed
Javier Montgomery, 18, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty on August 14, 2026, to second-degree murder while armed and to multiple sexual abuse and robbery counts in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, according to the press release issued that day by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the official record on which this account is based.
The matter is not resolved. No sentence has been imposed. Sentencing is scheduled for January 15, 2027, and until a judge acts, the punishment in both cases remains undetermined. The case record supplied by the U.S. Attorney's Office also lists the proceeding stage as charged, which does not square with the release's own description of entered pleas; readers should treat the disposition as open pending the sentencing hearing. Nothing in the record indicates a final judgment has been entered.
In case 2025 CF1 016197, Montgomery pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the October 3, 2025, fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jermaine Durbin near the entrance to the Rhode Island Avenue metro station. The plea agreement calls for a sentence in the range of 12 to 18 years in prison on that count — that is, he faces up to 18 years, with 12 years as the floor. The figure of 18 years is the top of the agreed range, not a term that has been ordered.
In case 2025 CF1 016196, Montgomery pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse while armed, carrying a consecutive agreed range of 12 to 15 years in prison; to one count of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of robbery, to run concurrently with each other and consecutively to the other counts, with ranges of 1 to 3 years and 1.5 to 5 years respectively; and to one count of attempted third-degree sexual abuse, with a consecutive range of 0.5 to 2 years. The conduct in that case spans May 2025 through September 2025.
Taken together, the plea agreements set a combined range of 26 to 40 years in prison — Montgomery faces up to 40 years, with 26 years as the floor. Each of these figures is a ceiling or floor negotiated between the parties; the sentencing judge has not yet ruled.
According to the government's evidence described in the release, in case 2025 CF1 016196 the defendant admitted to slapping one victim on the buttocks and demanding further sexual contact at gunpoint on May 23, 2025; to groping another victim's chest and crotch at gunpoint on September 6, 2025; and to forcing another victim to perform oral sex on him at gunpoint on September 28, 2025.
As to case 2025 CF1 016197, the release states that at approximately 7:20 p.m. on October 3, 2025, Montgomery approached Durbin and robbed him of his backpack at gunpoint. Durbin followed the defendant in an effort to recover the backpack, and the defendant ultimately shot him. Metropolitan Police Department Fifth District officers responded to 600 Rhode Island Avenue, NE, and found Durbin unconscious, unresponsive and suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. D.C. Fire & EMS personnel found no signs consistent with life, and Durbin was pronounced deceased at 7:36 p.m.
Montgomery was arrested on a warrant on November 28, 2025, and has remained in custody since that date.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said in the release that Montgomery "carried out a pattern of violence that terrorized multiple victims over several months and ultimately took the life of 17-year-old Jermaine Durbin," and that his actions were "predatory, deliberate, and devastating for every person he targeted." She added that the conviction "ensures that Montgomery will be held fully accountable for the harm he inflicted."
The release carried no presumption-of-innocence statement, and the case record's proceeding-stage field describes the matter as at the charging stage. To the extent any allegation described above has not been resolved by an entered plea, it is an accusation only: Montgomery is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, and no trial has been held in either case. The agreed sentencing ranges likewise remain proposals until a judge imposes sentence.
Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department joined the announcement. The case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Roberts and Katherine Ballou. The case numbers are 2025 CF1 016196 and 2025 CF1 016197.
Aug 15, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ETFirst report
D.C. Man Pleads Guilty to Murder and Sexual Assault Charges
On August 14, 2026, 18-year-old Javier Montgomery of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to murder and sexual assault charges, according to official records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The developing case is awaiting final disposition, with sentencing scheduled for January 15, 2027.
According to official records, Montgomery pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the October 3, 2025, shooting of 17-year-old Jermaine Durbin. Government evidence indicates that at approximately 7:20 p.m. near the Rhode Island Avenue metro station, Montgomery robbed Durbin of his backpack at gunpoint. Durbin followed Montgomery in an effort to retrieve his backpack, and Montgomery shot him. Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to 600 Rhode Island Avenue, NE, where DC Fire & EMS personnel pronounced Durbin deceased at 7:36 p.m. Montgomery was arrested on November 28, 2025, and has remained in custody since.
In a second case, Montgomery pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse while armed, one count of third-degree sexual abuse, one count of robbery, and one count of attempted third-degree sexual abuse involving offenses between May 2025 and September 2025. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said, "Javier Montgomery carried out a pattern of violence that terrorized multiple victims over several months and ultimately took the life of 17‑year‑old Jermaine Durbin." Under the plea agreement, Montgomery faces a combined sentencing range of 26 to 40 years in prison. The cases were investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.
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- Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:06current
First published.
- Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:00current
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- Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:19current
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