A fatal stabbing defendant’s trial wound up before DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan on Nov. 10.
Tywan Morris, 30, is charged with second-degree murder while armed, carrying a dangerous weapon outside a home or business, and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 27-year-old Danielle Stuckey, on Oct. 17, 2021, at the 2800 block of Alabama Avenue, SE. The victim suffered a fatal stab wound to her thigh, severing her femoral artery,
Morris is also charged with four counts of obstruction of justice for a different incident where Morris allegedly offered to pay a grand jury witness to not testify. He is being tried for both cases at the same time.
Prosecutors called a forensics expert to testify about DNA evidence gathered at the scene.
She said her laboratory received five items but only tested and created a report on two. Overall, there were swabs of suspected blood from the exterior driver side door of the defendant’s car, a black shirt, black pants, black shorts, and a blood card from the victim.
She stated that she analyzed the swabs from the driver side door and the black shorts. From the swabs of the driver side were identified as coming from a woman. The DNA profile of the swabs likely matched the victim. As for the shorts, the sample was said to come from a man. The victim was excluded as a possible contributor.
A witness who works with electronic monitoring systems testified that his company handles GPS monitors placed on individuals on release or parole. When asked what kind of data is collected by these devices, he said timestamped latitude and longitude of where the individual wearing the device is located. He stated that the accuracy of the devices is within a 50 foot radius.
The relevant data related to the GPS information from an eyewitness who allegedly gave the weapon to the defendant. Additionally, this individual also allegedly contacted another eyewitness on behalf of the defendant, to offer her a sum of money to not appear in court.
A demonstrative shown to the jury displayed an animated map that tracked the movements of this individual on Oct. 31, 2023 on Benning Road, NE.
A litigation technology specialist at the US Attorney’s Office testified about a review data from Oct. 31, 2023 for the GPS data for Morris and the individual allegedly giving him a weapon and trying to pay off a witness.
The analyst stated that he was given spreadsheets by the prosecutors in the case and used the GPS data given to him to create an animated map that tracked the defendant and the other individual’s location on Oct. 31, 2023. The map showing the defendant and the other individual being in close proximity on Oct. 31, 2023 around Benning Road, NE.
The prosecution rested their case.
Defense attorney Steven Kiersh motioned for acquittal of the case. Specifically, on the charge of second-degree murder while armed he argued that the prosecution did not meet their burden of proving that there were no mitigating circumstances such as threats of violence.
He added that mitigating circumstances can extend beyond the “heat of passion”, and claimed that the victim’s blood alcohol content (BAC), and her being the alleged aggressor in an argument with the defendant outside his vehicle where his girlfriend and child were inside, are mitigating circumstances.
The prosecution argued that mitigating circumstances are incredibly limited and only applicable in the two situations outlined in the jury instructions. They went on to state that the standards for mitigation are inward looking, describing the state of mind of the defendant as a mitigating circumstance rather than external factors.
The judge denied the motion for acquittal on the basis of the prosecution’s meeting their burden for second-degree murder while armed. He said that in this case there is a person who had ample opportunity to act in a number of ways, and chose to act how he did, causing the death.
The prosecution closed by urging the jury to carefully rewatch the surveillance footage, arguing it would point to no other option than Morris’ being guilty. They claimed Morris turned a verbal argument into a “violent murder,” and that Morris tripped, kicked and stabbed Stuckey in a short span of time. They also claimed the incident happened in front of Stuckey’s 12-year-old son.
The prosecution showed key parts of their evidence to support their claim, including parts of the surveillance footage that showed the attack, identifying alleged photos of Morris, cell tower data placing Morris at the incident location and the wound Stuckey suffered.
The prosecution highlighted several of Morris’ movements in the security footage, arguing his body language did not depict fear or that he felt he was in danger. They also noted that, while Stuckey may have raised her voice or acted unpleasantly, “mere words, no matter how offensive, are not adequate provocation” of self defense.
The prosecution also showed evidence for the obstruction of justice charges, arguing that after Morris heard testimony that a witness gave the grand jury, he attempted to offer the witness money through another individual they both knew. They said this individual contacted the witness that night about Morris’ offer.
In other evidence, the prosecution showed GPS data of Morris and the suspected intermediary which close together on the day of the incident. They also showed Facebook Messenger posts between the witness and the other individual from that same date.
The witness did not accept the offer, but the prosecution explained that the attempt was enough for Morris to be found guilty of the charges.
During Kiersh’s closing arguments, he told the jury “Evidence is what’s presented to you, not what the prosecution says about it.” He encouraged the jury to review the entirety of the surveillance footage, claiming there were parts the prosecution was intentionally omitting.
Kiersh argued Morris was not at a gas station for “criminal intent,” stating parts of the surveillance footage showed him calmly getting and paying for gas.
He also argued part of the footage showed Stuckey slamming Morris’ car door shut, and that some of her DNA was located on the car’s handle. He claimed this could suggest she was trying to get into Morris’ car, where his infant child was located, and that Morris subsequently feared for his child’s safety.
Kiersh called the incident “total chaos,” claiming no one in the area was acting rationally. He claimed Stuckey was mildly drunk when she approached Morris and that she provoked him.
In regards to the obstruction of justice charges, Kiersh argued there was no evidence that proved the incident occurred. He claimed the only evidence the prosecution had was a report from the grand jury witness, noting that they didn’t show a message between them and the alleged go-between, only the call history.
The prosecution rebutted, claiming the part of the footage Kiersh was referring to didn’t exist. They showed a clip where Stuckey can be seen pushing past Morris’ car door without trying to close it.
The prosecution reiterated that DNA said to be Stuckey’s was on Morris’ car, not on the handle, but was a small patch of blood on the space between the front and back doors.
The prosecution concluded by claiming Morris was the physical aggressor from start to finish and said Stuckey was only ever armed with her words. They asked the jury to “trust their eyes, ears and common sense” when coming to a verdict.
Parties are slated to reconvene Nov. 12, where deliberation will begin.
