DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan released a murder defendant following his preliminary hearing despite pushback from the victim’s family on Feb. 25 and 26.
Martell West, 23, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Treyvon Wilson on the 2300 block of Good Hope Road, SE, on Nov. 19, 2023.
Prior to the hearing, prosecutors offered West a deal under which he would plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed. In exchange, the prosecution would drop the arrest charge and not seek an indictment with additional charges related to the incident. Additionally, West would be sentenced to seven-and-a-half-to-11 years in prison. West rejected the plea offer and proceeded with his preliminary hearing.
The prosecution called a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective who responded to the scene on the night of the incident and investigated surveillance recordings from nearby residential buildings.
Prosecutors played a portion of the footage recovered by the detective, which showed a person identified as the suspect vehicle entering a parking lot. After the vehicle stopped, surveillance video showed the driver exiting the vehicle as a second individual, who the detective identified as Wilson, left a house and approached the suspect.
The detective explained that the victim and suspect met for a pre-negotiated marijuana exchange.
According to the detective’s analysis of the video, the victim used his flashlight to look into a bag being held by the suspect, then grabbed the bag and attempted to flee the scene. The suspect then pulled a gun on the victim and fired shots before he chased the victim out of the camera’s point of view.
Moments later, surveillance footage showed the suspect reappearing, sprinting towards his car, entering the vehicle, and driving away.
The prosecution then showed the detective photos from the scene, which the detective identified as shell casings from a 9mm handgun, a pile of spilled marijuana on the ground near a parked car, and gunfire damage to an AC unit.
On cross-examination, West’s attorney, Shawn Sukumar, questioned the detective about filing the arrest warrant. The detective said that he filed two arrest warrants, but the first was rejected by the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) in a letter saying they wouldn’t pursue the case.
In the first arrest warrant, the detective wrote that the surveillance footage showed the victim holding something “consistent with a firearm” in his right hand. According to the detective, he filed a second arrest warrant more than a year-and-a-half after the first, adding additional information about an eyewitness and an anonymous tip received by MPD. The detective said he also altered the wording discussing the alleged firearm in the victim’s hand in the second warrant, making the weapon’s presence on the scene sound less conclusive.
Sukumar pressed the detective further about the eyewitness whose testimony was added to the second warrant. The detective stated that this witness had an intimate friendship with Wilson and was granted immunity for cooperation with MPD.
Sukumar pointed out that according to the eyewitness, he was inside the house from which the victim originally exited during the shooting. However, Sukumar said another witness claimed that the eyewitness exited the house with the victim and was outside the house during the shooting, only re-entering the home after the shooting, putting his testimony in conflict with other pieces of evidence.
Additionally, Sukumar asked the detective about the anonymous tip he received a week before sending the second warrant to USAO, in which an individual claimed he saw West at a party. According to court documents, the tip allegedly said West bragged about the murder. The detective admitted that he had no previous contact with the individual who left the tip, never followed up with them, identified them, or verified the validity of their information.
Prosecutors argued for probable cause, claiming the video evidence did not support the notion that the victim was holding a gun during the incident, negating any arguments for self-defense.
Additionally, the prosecution claimed that West’s reaction to Wilson taking the marijuana, as shown by surveillance footage, did not resemble the reaction of someone at gunpoint.
The prosecutors said if probable cause was found, they expect an indictment on a first-degree felony murder charge against West.
Sukumar replayed the surveillance video, pausing it at the point Wilson allegedly grabs the bag of marijuana from West, where, according to Sukumar, the presence of a gun appears to be “absolutely clear as day” in the victim’s hand. Sukumar argued that as West and Wilson ran off camera, the gun Wilson was allegedly holding may have still posed a danger to West’s life, necessitating the use of deadly force for self-defense.
Furthermore, Sukumar said that the victim was allegedly known to previously rob people at gunpoint.
The prosecution asserted that no gun belonging to the victim was found on the scene.
Judge Ryan found probable cause due to the strength of the prosecution’s arguments and because West didn’t appear visibly threatened by Wilson in the surveillance footage, regardless of whether or not he had a gun.
West’s other attorney, Michelle Stevens, asked for West to be released on 24 hour home confinement at his mother’s and stepfather’s residence in Maryland. Stevens claimed that West demonstrated exceptional behavior in the community and had a substantial employment history, working at Dunkin’ Donuts, Amazon, and volunteering with the homeless.
Stevens said that West would fully cooperate with any release conditions the court enforced, describing the conditions as a “tight leash.”
Prosecutors argued that due to the severity of the crimes and surveillance video evidence, West should remain in the DC Jail until his next hearing.
During arguments, Judge Ryan allowed the Wilson’s mother and father to express their strong support for detention. The victim’s father described release conditions as a “slap on the wrist,” and asked the judge to “keep him locked up.” Similarly, the victim’s mother pleaded with the judge to keep West detained, not wanting what happened to their son to happen to another family.
Nonetheless, Judge Ryan released West on 24 hour home confinement and ordered a stay-away from any of the victim’s family members, as well as a witness described as the defendant’s ex-girlfriend.
While Judge Ryan claimed it would be far easier to simply keep West locked up, he believed that he met the conditions of release due to his clean record and the fact that he is living with a supportive family.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on March 13.
