(DCNF)—U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Thursday that the fatal shooting of a young Capitol intern and a teenage girl by known offenders represents the inevitable outcome of the D.C. Council’s failed approach to crime.
Pirro announced that 18-year-old Naqwan Antonio Lucas has been indicted on 16 counts for the June 30 murder of congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym and separately charged for the July 4 killing of 17-year-old Zoey Kelley. During a press conference, Pirro unleashed a blistering tirade against the Democrat-controlled D.C. Council and accused city leaders of coddling repeat offenders.
“Two innocent souls were taken from us in what I believe were predictable homicides based upon the behavior of these individuals and the records that everyone knew about,” Pirro said.
Pirro said D.C.’s permissive justice system fosters lawlessness.
“The D.C. Council is more interested in protecting young criminals under the guise of protecting the innocence of youth. It’s time for them to start protecting the citizens of the district, because this is what we’re ending up with,” Pirro said.
Pirro said the crime scene proves that public safety is deteriorating.
“We’re having victims five blocks away, 79 rounds on the ground! This is normal behavior in D.C.,” Pirro said. “No more excuses from this council.”
Prior to recent reforms, D.C. courts routinely used GPS monitoring and community supervision instead of detention for juveniles, with city data showing hundreds of youth offenders remaining in the community pretrial each year despite prior arrests. Democrats control every seat on the D.C. Council, with Chairman Phil Mendelson, Chair Pro Tempore Kenyan McDuffie, and At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds leading the body.
The capital’s crime wave has dominated headlines in 2025. This, after the murder of Tarpinian-Jachym and the brutal assault on government staffer Edward Coristine — known online as “Big Balls” — after he tried to stop a carjacking. Due to the surge in violent crime, President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., to restore order and support overwhelmed local authorities.
A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll reported that 54% of voters support Trump’s decision to declare a public safety emergency in the capital and call in the Guard. Data from the D.C. Police Union shows violent crime plunged the first two weeks of the deployment, with robberies down 42% and carjackings down 85%.