A murder defendant was arraigned in connection to the fatal beating of a senior citizen before DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt during an Oct. 3 hearing.
Jafekka Harris, 34, is charged with second-degree murder of a senior citizen for her alleged involvement in the fatal beating of 79-year-old Betty Duke on the 3100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE on Oct. 5, 2024.
According to court documents, Harris allegedly struck Duke several times in the head. A medical examiner conducted an autopsy and concluded Duke died as a result of blunt force trauma.
Judge Brandt ordered a new competency examination from the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) based on representations from defense attorneys Kevin Mosley and Emma Mlyniec. Previous DBH analysis deemed Harris mentally incompetent to stand trial, but the prosecution objected to the finding on Sept. 11 and was granted time to finalize its own behavioral expert to evaluate Harris.
The prosecutor indicated she had not filed a motion for an independent expert meeting without the defense present because she figured the defense counsel would object.
“Spoiler alert: this has to be doctor-patient,” Judge Brandt remarked.
“This is the first I’m hearing of this,” Mosley said, not understanding why the prosecutor thought he would oppose the motion.
The prosecution said she assumed the defense would object based on previous experience.
Judge Brandt assigned both parties deadlines for submitting their expert witness reports and confirmed she would request another report from the DBH.
The prosecutor said she recruited an expert to examine Harris but had not yet received the medical records and did not know when the expert would be available to meet with Harris. The prosecutor said she is willing to set a tentative date.
Judge Brandt agreed and scheduled a deadline for Dec. 1.
“This [deadline] may have to move depending on what we hear,” Judge Brant said.
She also set a mental observation hearing and a Dec. 3 deadline for the defense to submit their findings from the DBH examination. She noted she would prefer to receive the report even earlier.
“That way we’ll really be able to clean up and see what we have and don’t have,” Judge Brandt said.
The prosecution said the defense counsel will likely ask for sentence reductions if the DBH relies on any new medical reports.
Parties are slated to reconvene for Dec. 3.
