A homicide victim’s brother told jurors he heard “agonizing” screams coming from an apartment moments after the gunfire, during a Feb. 25 trial before DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park.
Christopher Tyler, 48, is charged with first-degree felony murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction, first-degree burglary while armed, and attempt to commit robbery while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of Nolan Edwards, 34, on July 7, 2023 on the 4000 block of Ames Street, NE.
The prosecution called Edwards’ brother to the stand, who said he and Edwards lived as neighbors in the same apartment complex for a few years. When the shooting occured, Edwards’ brother said he was in an adjacent apartment and heard the shots.
He testified after business call ended around 3:48 p. m., two-to-three minutes later, he heard several loud bangs inside the building. Then, he described hearing his brother’s “agonizing” screams coming from the neighboring apartment.
After hearing the shots, Edwards’ brother said he heard footsteps but did not see anyone leave the building. When he went to check on Edwards, he said he found him sliding down the wall, visibly shot. “It was a lot,” he told the jurors. When asked what he did when the first responders arrived, Edwards’ brother remembered repeating, “Make sure my brother is okay.”
Edwards’ brother also testified that he and Edwards operated a marijuana business out of Edwards’ apartment, primarily selling to friends and family. They were frequently in and around the building, handling orders, inventory, and making sales, said Edwards’ brother.
According to Edwards’ brother, after a new tenant moved into the building, he noticed unusual activity in the complex, including tampering with the front door of the complex so it wouldn’t lock properly. Edwards’ brother added that he observed Tyler coming in and out of an apartment on the same floor as Edwards.
The brother also testified that he was unaware of any direct contact between Edwards and Tyler. He recalled only one personal interaction with Tyler, when Tyler asked him for five dollars, and he gave him the money.
During cross-examination, Tyler’s attorney, Kevann Gardner, asked about Edwards’ firearms. Gardner asked how Edwards stored his guns and whether they were kept in a safe or loaded. Edwards’ brother testified that Edwards owned multiple registered firearms but said he did not know specific details about how they were stored or whether Edwards was carrying a weapon at the time of his death.
Gardner also questioned Edwards’ brother about the day of the incident. Edwards’ brother described the day as “nothing out of the ordinary,” calling it a “standard shipping day.”
Jurors also heard from a former Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer, who testified he was the first to arrive at the scene. Prosecutors played the officer’s body-worn camera footage that showed the officer running into the apartment, finding Edwards lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood, and a firearm nearby.
Gardner asked if the officer could identify “bloody footprints” in the video and the officer said he could not confirm whether it was footprints but he identified the blood stain.
A Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) forensic scientist photographed the scene and collected evidence.
The jurors were shown photographs of cartridge casings recovered from inside the apartment. Four firearms were recovered from different areas of the unit, including a handgun inside a bag and others found on the bedroom dresser and the floor, said the forensic scientist.
The photographs depicted what appeared to be a marijuana operation inside the apartment. The forensic scientist said the apartment included tall, vertical “grow towers,” which grow marijuana indoors under artificial light. In addition to the towers, there were several jars and bags of marijuana present in the apartment.
Photographs showed one bullet’s path, which included bullet holes in a grow tower, a bedroom wall, and the bedroom door past the wall.
On cross-examination, the forensic scientist acknowledged that he did not swab cartridge cases from the scene, and only the blood found on a box in the kitchen. He also did not dust cartridge cases or firearms for DNA testing, but asserted that he collected all the evidence steriley.
He explained that detectives primarily direct DFS workers on what to collect, but the forensic scientist must deem their value “forensically valid.”
Trial is set to resume Feb. 26.
