MoCo Armed Carjacker Pleads Guilty In DC Taxi Attack

CHEVY CHASE, MD — Demonta King, 18, of Chevy Chase pleaded guilty in the carjacking of a D.C. taxicab driver at knifepoint in November 2024 and robbing another victim at gunpoint in August 2022, officials said.

King pleaded guilty Friday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to one count of armed carjacking and one count of armed robbery. Sentencing is scheduled for June 16, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C.

According to the government’s evidence, King was armed with a knife when approached a taxicab driver who was standing near his vehicle on Nov. 18, 2024, in the 5000 block of Fort Totten Drive, NE. King told the victim, “Give me everything,” and ordered the cab driver to hand over his keys. King then stabbed the victim in the hand.

Prosecutors said King took the cabbie's keys and drove off in the victim’s taxi, along with his phone, driver’s license, bank cards and other personal items. Officers later spotted the speeding cab in the 500 block of Chillum Road in Hyattsville, where King crashed and ran away. Police gave chase and stopped him.

In a separate case, according to prosecutors, on Aug. 26, 2022, in the 100 Block of Gallatin Street and 1st Place NE, King approached a different victim, took their backpack and cell phone, and then struck the victim in the face with a firearm and fled. King was 16 when he committed this offense and was prosecuted as an adult.

King was placed under arrest at the scene of the armed carjacking and has been in custody since his arrest.