Lawyers representing the District of Columbia’s Johnny Piro announced on Friday that two teenagers were arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the tragic death of a Congressional intern earlier this summer.
Eric Tarpinian Yachim, a 21-year-old intern working in Rep. Ron Estes’s office, was shot and killed on June 30 during a drive-by shooting while he was walking in northwest Washington.
Piro described Tarpinian Yachim as “an innocent bystander caught up in an unintended act of violence.”
The two 17-year-olds are facing charges in adult court, including first-degree murder while armed, with plans for additional charges as the case moves toward a major juvenile trial. There’s also a third suspect still being pursued.
“This situation highlights the urgent need to prosecute these young offenders,” Piro commented.
“They’re not just kids. They are violent criminals. We need to hold them accountable.”
Since the case is being prosecuted locally, the death penalty won’t be considered. However, there have been discussions about reinstating the death penalty for murders in D.C. as part of law enforcement initiatives, a notion endorsed by President Trump.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy stated that if found guilty, the suspects would face “severe justice.”
According to police reports, Yachim was shot after several suspects exited a vehicle near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and opened fire at a group of people.
Yachim, along with a woman and a 16-year-old boy, was hospitalized after the incident. Other victims sustained life-threatening injuries, but sadly, Yachim succumbed to his wounds the following day.
A rising senior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he had been working on Capitol Hill for just a month, studying finance and political science.
Rep. Estes expressed his condolences in a statement, recalling Yachim’s “kindness” and “cheerful smile,” and recognizing his contributions to Kansas and the nation. Requests for commentary from Estes’s office were made.
Trump also remarked on local crime, including Yachim’s murder, in the context of increasing security measures, such as deploying the National Guard to the capital after various incidents.
Yachim’s mother, Tamara Tarpinian Yachim, emphasized the need for more effective actions against violent offenders in an interview last month.
“It’s an issue if it takes a month of National Guard presence for things to be patrolled, while local officers haven’t resolved many cases,” she remarked.
“I just want them to find him or his killer,” she added.
