Judge Releases Murder Defendant Under Supervision Program

Thank you for reading D.C. Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

During a detention hearing Dec. 4, a murder defendant was released with a condition to the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP).

Jessie Taylor, 43, is charged with second-degree murder while armed and two gun offenses for his alleged role in the shooting death of his girlfriend, 49-year-old Bernadette King on the 2400 block of Elvans Road, SE in 2018.

DC Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe said he did not find substantial probability and granted Taylor’s release while his case continues.

“I’ve already seen weaknesses in this case” said Judge Iscoe.

There were no eyewitnesses introduced in the case and the prosecutor’s DNA evidence could not prove that Taylor killed King, Judge Iscoe said.

Judge Iscoe said Taylor and the victim had been in a relationship since 1998, it was not odd that the defendant’s DNA was found on and inside the victim.

The prosecutor then requested that Taylor be sent to a halfway house if he was not going to be detained.

Taylor’s defense attorney, Dominique Winters, said the halfway house was not the least restrictive method of confinement and requested Taylor be under HISP.

Judge Iscoe ordered Taylor to 24-hour home confinement for the first 30 days. He also imposed a stay away order which would prevent him from speaking to or contacting a family member of the decedent and a witness in this case.

The witness in this case was not an eyewitness, but the person Taylor told to call 911 when he found King.

Taylor is set to stay at a relative’s home while he waits for his trial.

Taylor’s trial readiness hearing is scheduled on Feb. 4, 2020.

Danuellys Diaz wrote this article.