A medical examiner, chief deputy toxicologist, and fingerprint examiner testified in a homicide trial before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on Aug. 5.
Vanessa Bonaparte, 34, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and destruction of property worth more than $1,000 for her alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 31-year-old Dwayne Boyd on the 3500 block of East Capitol Street, SE on June 22, 2024. Bonaparte had a sexual relationship with Boyd, according to Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective testimony at a motions hearing on July 20.
A fingerprint specialist that performs contract work for the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) testified. The expert said he identified multiple prints attributed to Boyd, Bonaparte and another witness on the scene.
The witness said he analyzes evidence left at the scene through scanned images to find latent fingerprints, an unintentional recording of a fingerprint, and compares them to known fingerprints, intentional recordings a fingerprint, to verify if there is a match.
Across 34 latent fingerprints, the expert found 16 verified prints across three pieces of evidence, one of which was a window pane at the scene, that reportedly matched palm and fingerprint impressions made by Bonaparte, Boyd and a witness.
Upon cross-examination, Bonaparte’s other attorney, Roderick Thompson, questioned the affiliation the fingerprint expert has with DFS. The expert said that DFS and his firm are two separate entities with different operating procedures, but more than 95 percent of his job is working with DFS, although he no longer works on-site with them.
The expert confirmed he told another one of Bonaparte’s lawyers that payment was required to talk about the case.
Upon redirect, the expert clarified that his company as a private entity is paid for by the prosecution.
Prosecutors called the deputy medical examiner at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) who conducted Boyd’s autopsy. The medical examiner determined Boyd’s cause of death to be two stab wounds to the upper left and right sides of his chest.
The wound on the right side of Boyd’s chest was five inches deep and damaged his skin, pectoralis muscles, musculature between his ribs, and right lung, according to the medical examiner. The witness said the wound on Boyd’s left side was six-and-a-half inches deep and damaged his chest plate, pericardial sac, and perforated the left ventricle of his heart, meaning the weapon entered and exited through his heart.
The medical examiner explained that the torso and ribs are compressible, like a sponge. As a result, the witness said a knife may enter a body when the abdomen is compressed, and later, when the abdomen expands, the wound may be larger than the blade that caused the injury.
Aside from the two stab wounds, Boyd had no other apparent injuries the day he died, according to the medical examiner. She concluded Boyd’s death was a homicide.
In cross-examination, Bonaparte’s attorney, Kevann Gardner, confirmed that the medical examiner could not tell the order in which the wounds were inflicted, the position of Boyd’s body at the time he was stabbed, or the position of the person who stabbed Boyd.
When Gardner asked if the wounds could be consistent with Boyd choking a woman, who then managed to get a hold of a knife and stab him, the medical examiner said, “I suppose it’s possible.”
The deputy chief toxicologist at OCME testified that Boyd had a 0.07% Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC), which is below the legal limit of 0.08% BAC to operate a vehicle in DC.
In cross-examination, the toxicologist, a specialist in dangerous drugs, clarified that OCME’s testing reflects only the level of a substance in Boyd’s body at the time of death and would not detect compounds from weeks, days, or possibly hours earlier.
Other studies show Boyd tested positive for methamphetamine, a stimulant known as meth and the possible presence of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), the hallucinogen called Molly, but the estimated concentration was too low to meet OCME’s reportable limits.
After the jury left, Judge Kravitz told the prosecution that invoices they plan to show in court that estimate the cost of replacing windows that Bonaparte allegedly damaged do not represent the “fair market value” of windows at the time of damage. He said the prosecution may have to charge Bonaparte with a misdemeanor instead of a felony for destruction of property.
Prosecutors said they would examine case law to determine how to proceed with the charge.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on Aug. 6.
