D.C. Teen Found Guilty In Shooting Death Of Norwalk Student

NORWALK, Conn. — A teenager accused of killing a Norwalk man in Washington, D.C., was found guilty by a jury Monday of first-degree premeditated murder while armed, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

Eric Foreman, 18, was also found guilty of charges of felony murder-attempted robbery while armed, attempted robbery and related firearms offenses in the August 2010 death of Neil Godleski, 31, in the Sherman Circle area of northwest Washington, Machen said.

Godleski was a student at Catholic University of America, working to complete a degree he had started there when younger, Machen said. He had just finished working a shift as a waiter in southwest Washington and was pedaling home on his bicycle at about 12:30 a.m. when he approached Sherman Circle in the bicycle lane.

Foreman was walking with a group of teenage friends on the opposite side of the street, Machen said. Without any warning, Foreman fired five shots as Godleski pedaled by, according to Machen. None of the shots hit Godleski, and Foreman began to walk off. Godleski, however, fell off his bicycle, and Foreman turned and approached him. He shot Godleski at close enough range that the firearm deposited soot on Godleski's arm, Machen said. As Foreman and his friends ran off, Godleski struggled across the street and collapsed on top of his bicycle inside Sherman Circle.

Foreman was later heard saying he had taken $60 and that he had shot Godleski for not giving up the money quickly enough, Machen said. He also said he shot Godleski because he was mad about the unrelated murder of a friend in the summer.

The verdicts returned in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia included a finding of two aggravating circumstances: that the murder involved a random shooting and that it occurred during the course of an attempted robbery.

Foreman is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16 before the Honorable Robert E. Morin. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and the possibility of up to life without parole.

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