Prosecutors struggled to elicit testimony from a reluctant witness before DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson in a mass shooting trial on Sept. 16.
Ronell Offutt, 36, is charged with five counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, six counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and aggravated assault while armed. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a non-fatal shooting at the 2300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, on Feb. 4, 2019, that injured five people, including a five-year-old girl.
During the hearing, prosecutors called one of the victims from the incident, who received medical treatment on his porch for gunshot wounds on his arm and buttocks.
The witness was reluctant to testify and, when asked if he wanted to be there, told the court that he did not and that he “would like to answer no questions.”
The prosecution produced images of the victim’s gunshot wounds on his porch before treatment, videos of him in the hospital being treated for his injuries, and videos of him telling police that he had been shot while returning home.
In court, he denied recognizing all of the images and videos brought forth, telling the jury, “I don’t remember none of this.” When asked why he was at the hospital, he told the court: “I don’t know why I was there.”
In response to the prosecution’s introducing the police interviews, he said the police “coached” him on what to say at the time.
When questioned by defense dttorney, Donna Beasley, he told the court he didn’t know who shot him, was never shown a suspect image, and had no idea who the defendant was.
“I don’t know him from a wet can of paint,” the victim said.
A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective told the court that she responded to gunshot reports and found the wounded victim sitting on his porch. She testified to body camera footage that showed the victim’s wounds, on-site medical treatment, and footage of him at the hospital receiving treatment. She also told the court that the police did not pressure or feed information to the victim at any time during questioning.
The grandmother of the five-year-old victim was called to testify. She she said she and her granddaughter were waiting at a bus stop along Pennsylvania Avenue, SE when she heard gunshots. Her granddaughter approached her with a torn coat, which the witness told the court was when she realized her granddaughter had been shot in the arm. The granddaughter was hospitalized and has since recovered.
When asked about the shooter, the witness told the court that she did not see the shooter, and was never shown a picture of the suspect.
An agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) testified that Offutt’s phone’s GPS pinned him in the general vicinity of the incident location at the time of the shooting.
Parties are slated to reconvene on Sept. 17.
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Aiden Mellon & Alicia Gaines
