A doctor who specializes in investigating violent deaths testified it’s impossible to determine the victim’s specific time of death during a domestic homicide trial before DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson on July 30.
Rayvon Slye, 34, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 30-year-old Andrea Bond on March 7, 2023 on the 1000 block of D Street, NE. Bond sustained one stab wound to her upper left chest.
Bond’s time of death is contested by prosecutors and the defense. The defense theory, supported by what Slye originally told authorities, is that Bond was stabbed while out with friends in the Trinidad neighborhood the night before her death. Slye told police that Bond was already injured when he met up with her, and the couple spent time together before going to sleep. Bond was found dead the next morning.
The prosecution contends that Slye stabbed Bond in the home where they were staying. According to court documents, the medical examiner who performed Bond’s autopsy told police that Bond would’ve died between 30 minutes and one hour of being stabbed.
Slye’s defense attorneys, Kevin Mosley and Kayla Wyatt, called a forensic pathology expert and licensed doctor to testify. The witness works for a firm based in San Diego that is contracted by law enforcement and other agencies.
According to the autopsy report from the medical examiner, Bond had dangerous levels of alcohol, fentanyl, and fluorofentanyl in her system when she died. The forensics witness said fluorofentanyl is five-times stronger than fentanyl.
Because of the level of drugs in her system, the forensic expert explained that Bond “may have bled slower.” Fentanyl typically lowers blood pressure, according to the expert.
The witness emphasized that the science for determining exact time of death “is consistently terrible. Everyone is different, everyone’s environment is different.” He mentioned that Bond’s tolerance for drugs and alcohol was likely higher, as a regular user.
The witness said that he, as a professional, would’ve sought medical attention immediately with her injury, but it is not surprising that the average person wouldn’t.
In the prosecution’s cross-examination, the forensics expert reasserted the relevance of drugs in this case. He said had Bond not been stabbed, he would’ve classified her cause of death as an overdose.
The forensics expert said Bond likely died between “many minutes” to “a couple of hours.”
“She may have died quickly,” the expert said, “but there is no science to say she did.”
The prosecution then called an observer who lived a half block away from the scene at the time of the incident to testify. He had a Nest camera outside his house that was funded by DC to promote security in the neighborhood. The camera showed the incident address in clear view, and the witness said he was contacted by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) for the footage.
The prosecution also called a MPD detective who reviewed the footage and investigated the crime scene area. Contrary to Slye’s prior statements in which he claimed that he returned to Bond’s home with her on the night of March 6, 2023, the detective noted that he did not see it happen in the Nest camera footage.
When questioned by Mosley, the detective confirmed that it was difficult to make out who arrived and left the home on the video, as it is “grainy” and “glitchy.”
In addition, Mosley pointed out that the detective only canvassed one street in the half-mile by half-mile Trinidad neighborhood when looking for a blood trail that may have resulted from Bond’s wound.
The detective also confirmed that none of Bond’s blood was found in her home besides what was on her clothes. However, the detective noted that he never personally examined Bond’s clothing nor did he speak with the detective who recovered the clothes about Bond’s blood-stained shirt or coat.
After the detective’s testimony and the jury’s was excused, Wyatt argued in favor of a judgment of acquittal based on the claim that no guilty verdict could come in without jurors relying on speculation.
The prosecution rebutted this, stating that it would be reasonable to come up with a guilty verdict. They said that this is because multiple witnesses reported that Bond appeared “fine” when she arrived home on March 6, 2023 and that Slye was the only individual with her after she returned to the house.
Judge Dayson responded that she will make a ruling on this matter by the next date of trial, on Aug. 3.
