DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz reviewed several motions filed by the parties in a fatal shooting case involving an infant on July 15.
JD Wheeler, 26, is charged with second-degree murder, first and second-degree cruelty to children, carrying a pistol without a license, criminally negligent storage of a firearm, felony murder victim was especially vulnerable due to age or physical infirmity, possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, possession of an unregistered firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, tampering with physical evidence and contempt of court, all committed while on release in another matter. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of his son, 23-month-old Legend Wheeler. The incident occurred on the 2300 block of Chester Street, SE on Nov. 24, 2021.
To be found guilty of first-degree cruelty to children, Judge Kravitz noted that the defendant had to have acted “intentionally or recklessly.” The prosecution wants to use witness testimony as well as JD Wheeler’s court release order to show that he had been warned multiple times by several individuals about the dangers of being reckless with firearms, especially around his son.
The information comes from several witnesses, one specific instance happened months before the death of the victim. The witness, who was Legend’s aunt, claimed she went over to JD’s apartment, was asked to move a TV, and saw a firearm on Legend’s bed underneath a pillow. The witness then claimed she berated JD because Legend could have “hurt himself”.
In another instance, a witness, who was identified as JD’s friend, claimed that he had multiple conversations with JD about leaving guns out. He claimed he told JD to “lock it away” from his son.
Sylvia Smith, JD’s attorney, claimed that JD was never specifically told that this was dangerous, and giving someone warnings is not knowledge of how a situation is reckless. Smith asked the court “What exactly was Mr. Wheeler made aware of in that moment?”
Smith went on to argue that the witness never testified if Legend was in the apartment at the time, if he was ever in the same room as an unattended firearm, what gun it was, or if any witness ever expressed their grievances about leaving guns out towards JD in a clear and direct manner.
The defense asked the court for these witnesses to expand on their grand jury testimonies under oath, but Judge Kravitz stated there was not enough time to do so before the trial starts.
Smith argued that using JD’s court release order as evidence would pose a “risk of unfair prejudice” to JD, because the jury may draw inferences about this incident if they are aware of the suspect has other pending matters.
Along with witness testimony, to support the prosecution’s claim of “conscious disregard,” they argued to introduce video and photo evidence gathered from JD’s Instagram account.
The evidence purports to show video of JD flexing an extended magazine in his pants and showing off a hotel room. The prosecution alleges that this video was made the same day one of the witnesses took Legend home because people were smoking, drinking, and partying around him, which she said was inappropriate.
A witness claimed JD had a gun at the event and began “faking”, or flashing, the weapon to the people in the party. The prosecution stated they want to use this as evidence to show JD was in possession of a weapon and that same weapon was the one in the shooting.
Smith disagreed, citing that no gun can be seen in the video. Smith argued that JD just had an extended magazine in his pants and no weapon. Judge Kravitz disagreed with the defense because logically someone would assume there would be a firearm attached.
Crime scene photos were compared to zoomed in portions of the magazine posted on JD’s Instagram, and Judge Kravitz agreed with the prosecution that they appear to be similar, however for it to be admissible as evidence, the prosecution has to prove it to be the same gun.
They plan to call a firearms expert to examine the physical extended magazine recovered from JD’s apartment to conclusively say whether or not it could have been the weapon used in this case.
Judge Kravitz ultimately granted the defense’s motion to sever the contempt charge from the rest of the charges and JD allowed the jury to decide on his enhancement charges thus preventing the jury from knowing that JD was on release for a previous firearm case. Judge Kravitz will rule on the contempt charge and enhancements after trial if he is found guilty.
Judge Kravitz ended the hearing by stating he would make a decision on whether or not the information from the Instagram warrant and other evidence would be suppressed or admissible.
Parties are slated to reconvene on July 21.
