Jelani Cousin: 'Stupid' teen shoots dead LSU student on New Year’s Eve after being kicked out of party

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

NORTHWEST, WASHINGTON DC: 18-year-old Jelani Cousin was charged after firing two shots through a closed hotel room door early Monday, January 1, following his ejection from a New Year's Eve party, according to reports by the Washington Post. 

The police reported that the bullets fired during the incident struck and tragically ended the life of 18-year-old college student Ashlei Hinds at the party. Furthermore, authorities confirmed that the victim was a stranger to the suspect.

What happened at the New Year's party in DC?

The hosts of the party had accused the suspected shooter, Cousin, of making unwanted advances toward an intoxicated guest, a woman unrelated to the victim. Consequently, they requested Cousin and his friends to depart from the event.

According to the Washington Post, the affidavit reveals that Ashlei Hinds, the 18-year-old victim shot in the chest and close to one of her shoulders, was not involved in the altercation. Gunshots were heard from a hallway on the seventh floor of the Embassy Suites hotel on Military Road NW in Friendship Heights, just one hour and eighteen minutes into the new year.

As per the affidavit, two party attendees informed the police that, during an argument preceding the shooting, the suspect allegedly threatened to "blow this spot up" and brandished his firearm at them.

According to the police statement, the two shots hit Hinds while she was in the front common area of the suite. The statement further indicated that after being struck, "She walked to the bedroom and sat on the bed."

Hinds, a freshman studying sports administration at Louisiana State University, had returned home to her family in the Clinton neighborhood of Prince George's County during her Christmas break. 

According to DC police, they charged Cousin with second-degree murder while armed after apprehending him late on Tuesday, January 2. Investigators stated that he is from Northeast Washington.

Court records also list him as a Southeast resident. During a hearing in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday, Cousin entered a not guilty plea through his attorney. Approximately twelve members of Hinds' family were present, waiting with the prosecutor in the rear of the courtroom until the case was called.

Kevin Mosley, the defense attorney, contended that witnesses had seen his client both before and after the gunfire but not during the actual shooting. Additionally, he argued that law enforcement had not discovered a firearm linking Cousin to the shooting incident.

Magistrate Judge Eric Sabastian Glover determined that there was enough evidence to warrant Cousin's detention at the DC jail until the next hearing scheduled for January 16.

Hinds' family mourns the loss

In an interview with Post, Rev Kenneth Thomas Sr, Hinds' grandfather said, “She was the sweetest thing this side of heaven,” he added, "She had big dreams and big plans. And we had big dreams and big plans for her. And now she’s gone. And for what? Because somebody was being stupid. And this city tells these kids they can be stupid, and that nobody is going to be held accountable. It’s shameful.”

DC Council member Matthew Frumin (D-Ward 3), who represents the area where the hotel is located, said there will be a public safety community meeting with Smith and other officials on January 17.

“We face an epidemic of gun violence in our city that impacts every resident regardless of age, income, or Ward, and we must work together across government to empower public safety agencies to stem the tide of violence,” Frumin said in a statement on X, (previously known as Twitter) after Hinds was killed.