March 17, 2025

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

**Contact:**
Chad Flowers  
Public Information Officer  
919-618-1332  
cflowers@ncsbi.gov


(COLUMBUS COUNTY) — Darieus Rashad Washington was found GUILTY of murder this afternoon following a six-week trial in Whiteville, NC. He and a co-defendant were charged in a robbery that occurred in September 2019, resulting in the deaths of a man, his wife, and their 5-year-old son, as well as severely injuring the grandmother. The victims included 5-year-old Alexis Ciprian Trujillo, 29-year-old Leonel Ciprian, and 25-year-old Nancy Trujillo Espinoza.

Washington testified in his own defense last week, but the jury returned a guilty verdict in less than an hour of deliberation. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.  This guilty verdict is the result of much hard work by the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, the Office of the 15th Prosecutorial District Attorney Jon David, and numerous agents from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

The conviction of Darieus Washington is particularly poignant, as TODAY would have marked the 11th birthday of Alexis Ciprian Trujillo.