A bizarre argument over a discarded milk crate ended in gunfire, and now a D.C. man will serve out his eight-year prison sentence. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has officially upheld the convictions of Diandre Caesar, shooting down multiple legal challenges surrounding a violent 2022 encounter outside a local fast-food restaurant.
The incident unfolded on the afternoon of June 28, 2022. Jeffrey Smith and his girlfriend, Shelby Bell Greene, were leaving a McDonald’s on New York Avenue in Northeast D.C. with their infant child. Their exit was suddenly blocked by a black milk crate. Caesar, who was mowing grass at the adjacent Salvation Army property, had tossed the crate over the chain-link fence separating the two lots.
Smith got out of his car and threw the crate back. Caesar jogged over and threw it over the fence again, this time hitting Smith’s car. This sparked a heated, two-minute shouting match between the two men through the fence. After the argument seemed to cool down, Smith attempted to drive away. However, Caesar jumped the fence and approached the vehicle…