Marion Christopher Barry

Marion Christopher Barry (June 17, 1980 – August 14, 2016) was an American construction company owner and the son of Marion Barry, who was a two-time mayor of the District of Columbia long-term District councilmember. After the death of his father, he was an unsuccessful candidate for his father's Ward 8 council seat in 2015.

Early life Marion Christopher Barry was born in June 1980 to Marion Barry and Barry's third wife, Effi Slaughter Barry. He was their only child. His father had wanted to name him Marion Barry III, but Effi was strongly opposed, and they decided to give him the middle name Christopher instead. For most of his adult life, Barry went by his middle name, Christopher. St. Albans School for Boys. He was pulled from St. Albans' after teasing by his classmates about his father's problems with women and drugs. He also attended Hampton University.

In 2015, Barry described his relationship with his father being "more like brothers than father and son." Barry dabbled with drugs and felt his father was unsympathetic to his problems.

Legal problems Drug arrests In February 2005, three police officers investigated an apartment where there was loud music and which smelled like marijuana. The officers announced their presence several times and, after no response, opened the door. Barry was alone in the apartment, which belonged to a friend. According to a court report, Barry attempted to punch one of the police officers, placed the officer in a headlock, and then punched the officer in the face several times. The officers wrestled Barry to the ground while Barry repeatedly said, "Get out of my house." In 2006, during a series of drug tests required by his plea agreement, Barry tested positive for marijuana use. He received a warning from a judge. Police officers reported to the apartment and announced their presence. When Barry refused to open the door, police officers entered the apartment, where they found a half-ounce vial of liquid PCP and five small plastic bags of marijuana. The judge required Barry to undergo drug and grief counseling while on probation.

In August 2013, police officers in Hampton, Virginia stopped Barry for driving erratically. According to court documents, police officers found marijuana on Barry and in the car. Barry was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana.

In May 2014, Barry was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and operating a car without a license. A few days later, Barry was arrested for failing to obey a police officer, and the judge suspended his driver's license. Later that month, Barry was arrested for unlawful entry of a residence. Two months later, Barry was arrested for driving with a suspended license.

Assault charges Marion S. Barry died of cardiac arrest on November 23, 2014, at the age of 78. At his father's memorial service, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Barry memorialized his father and referred to his sometimes difficult relationship with him. A teller declined to process the withdrawal because Barry's account was overdrawn by $2,000.

Barry pleaded not guilty to the charges, and was ordered to stay away from the bank and the teller. Prosecutors offered Barry a plea agreement under which the simple assault charge would be dropped if Barry were to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charges of threats and destruction of property and receive up to 360 days of jail time. Barry did not accept the plea offer.

Ultimately, a plea agreement was reached under which Barry pleaded guilty to all three counts and was given a 270-day suspended sentence and 12 months of probation.

Barry continued to blame the bank teller, while pointing to his political legacy and grief over his father's death for the bank incident. "You have people sometimes that take advantage of their positions. I just think that when she sees the name 'Marion Barry,' she for some reason doesn't like me." When the news media asked how he would explain his legal problems to voters, Barry said his experience with drug use made him qualified to help others going through "rough times in life".

Death Barry died of an apparent drug overdose in the early morning hours of August 14, 2016. A police incident report stated that shortly before Barry suddenly "dropped", he had smoked the synthetic drug K-2 and the hallucinogen PCP. He was found unconscious by his girlfriend and was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:11 am. He was 36 years old. The D.C. coroner's office issued a report in November 2016 that said Barry died after smoking a lethal mixture of the synthetic cannabinoid known as "K2" and PCP.