Two teenagers arrested in attack that left gay DJ Brian Smith dead

Two teenagers were arrested in the case violent robbery which led to the death of popular Washington, D.C., gay DJ and hairstylist Brian Smith.

Smithknown as “Barber Streisand,” was found unconscious with severe head injuries outside gay bar Uproar in northwest D.C. around 5 a.m. on October 27. He died on the night of November 7-8. He was 39. He had just played a gig called HellBENT at the 9:30 Club.

A 14-year-old and a 16-year-old were arrested on Thursday, Washington television station WUSA reports Because they are minors, their names have not been released.

They have not been charged with murder, at least not yet. Both are charged with three counts of robbery because they are suspects in other robberies that happened the same night as the attack on Smith, Metropolitan Police Assistant Chief Raymy Kyle said at a news conference. Both are also charged with one count each of assault with intent to rob, as well as unlawful use of a motor vehicle, fraud, receiving stolen property and unlawful possession of ammunition. Additional fees may apply.

“For the past two weeks, our detectives have been working around the clock to investigate these cases,” Kyle said. “They surveyed a wide area around each crime, finding video footage important to identifying the suspects. We were also able to track cell phones taken in robberies and monitor transactions made using stolen credit cards. All of these efforts paid off early Thursday morning when our investigators identified the 14-year-old suspect.”

A 14-year-old boy was found asleep in a stolen car and later arrested. Later that day, the 16-year-old was detained.

– YouTube www.youtube.com

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said Brian Smith’s death is not being investigated as a hate crime. This is also not related to an attack on a gay model Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro22, who was beaten the same night by a group of people at a McDonald’s across the street from two gay bars. They yelled homophobic slurs at him, and police are treating the attack as a hate crime, though that name may change.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested on November 5 in the case of Lascarro’s beating. The teenager is charged with robbery with grievous bodily harm, WUSA reports Police are looking for additional suspects.

Lascarro is recovering but still suffering from the effects of the attack, his husband Stuart West told the station. Lascarro’s attackers “continued to verbally assault him using derogatory language and not only that, they escalated to another level,” said West, who was not with Lascarro at the time. “They threw trash at him and poured their drinks on him while he was there, bleeding, dizzy, confused and alone.”