WASHINGTON — Travon Eliy, also known as Travon Jackson, 38, was sentenced to 26 years in prison on Monday for assault with intent to kill a senior citizen in a gun-free zone and other charges related to a 2016 robbery and shooting behind a Southeast Washington elementary school. The sentencing, announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith, includes enhanced penalties for crimes against senior citizens.
Eliy was convicted on April 18, 2019, in D.C. Superior Court on 18 charges, including armed robbery of a senior citizen and firearms offenses. The sentence stems from a daytime attack on April 1, 2016, when Eliy robbed a 67-year-old woman at gunpoint as she returned home to an apartment building in the 600 block of Savannah Street S.E.
According to prosecutors, Eliy held a gun to the woman’s head before dragging her outside and stealing her purse. The robbery ended when a 61-year-old man intervened, confronting Eliy and pinning him against a parked car. Eliy responded by firing a single shot into the man’s chest at close range before fleeing the scene, which occurred in broad daylight behind Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School.
Metropolitan Police Department officers apprehended Eliy within 10 minutes of the shooting. The man survived the attack, but his injuries were life-threatening.