1991 triple homicide trial continues

By D.C. Witness Staff - January 31, 2018
Homicides | Suspects | Uncategorized |

An eyewitness, a firearms expert and the chief medical examiner were called Jan. 30 to testify in a 1991 triple homicide murder trial that began more than a week ago.

Benito Valdez is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly fatally shooting Curtis Pixley, Keith Simmons and Samantha Gillard. Officers found the three bodies with apparent gunshot wounds in Langdon Park, located in Northeast D.C., on April 23, 1991. Valdez was charged on February 16, 2016, and has been held without bail ever since.

Michael A. Green, the only eyewitness to the homicides, who is currently being held for second-degree murder in another homicide from 1999 and three counts of voluntary manslaughter for the homicides of Pixley, 29, Simmons, 24, and Gillard, 23, continued his testimony on Jan. 30. He told the jury that Valdez, who he teamed up with to sell drugs, was the only one who fired any shots. Green said Valdez used two separate guns in the shooting.

The prosecution called a firearms expert to the stand to corroborate Green’s statement. The expert told the jury that the bullets recovered from the crime scene were from two separate guns.

In addition, the prosecution called Chief Medical Examiner Roger Mitchell to testify about the photographs taken during the autopsies of the bodies. Mitchell showed the jury where the bullet wounds were found on the bodies of the decedents.

The trial is expected to continue on Jan. 31.