Instagram Accounts Used as Evidence in Murder Trial

By Adriana Marroquin , Rachel Benck [former] - March 8, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Juveniles | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On March 7, a murder trial continued with the testimony of a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) investigator regarding his knowledge of the Wellington Park individuals, their associations, and connections to one another.

Gregory Taylor, 26, Quentin Michals, 25, Qujuan Thomas, 24, Darrise Jeffers, 23, Isaiah Murchison, 22, and Marquell Cobbs, 21, are six of 10 defendants charged with first-degree murder, criminal street gang affiliation, conspiracy, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, assault with intent to kill, and other charges regarding a fatal drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson. The shooting happened on the 300 block of 53rd Street, NE on July 16, 2018.

The prosecution continued their direct examination of a MPD investigator. The investigator was shown various images that portrayed the defendants individually as well as with other individuals from the Wellington Park neighborhood. He was also shown messages between the defendants in a group chat that was acquired from their Instagram accounts.

The investigator, drawing from his experience using social media to identify persons of interest, said he associated the term “DF” as being a shorthand vanity name for a neighborhood group used by residents of Wellington Park in either their social media postings or directly in their usernames.

Taylor’s defense attorney, Jonathan Zucker, cross examined the witness, asking him if the use of “DF” in a person’s Instagram handle or postings alone was enough to identify an individual with a group.

 The witness replied no, not with 100% certainty.

Zucker elaborated, asking if using “DF” in combination with posting images containing people who reside in Wellington Park was enough to determine association. 

The witness again replied that was not enough either.

In addition, the investigator defined various acronyms and slang terms used in the defendants’  messages. 

He defined the term “joint”, which was used several times, as either being a marjuana cigarette or a firearm of any kind. The witness also defined “ARP” as a reference to an AR-15 style rifle.

The judge instructed the jury to only consider the information from each exhibit based on the defendant that posted it rather than grouping them as a whole.

The defense was unable to finish their cross examination of the witness, so the jury was dismissed, and all parties were scheduled to reconvene on March 8 to continue the trial.