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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- June 22, 2018
Court
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Homicides
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Suspects
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On June 21, testimony from a woman who witnessed a murder was spotty because she feared she would be killed.
Charles McRae, Willie Glover and Joseph Barbour are charged with first-degree murder while armed. According to the prosecution, the defendants stormed into an apartment on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE and stabbed Lenard Wills.
The witness, who was crying and visibly upset during her testimony, said she didn’t want to be a part of the case. “I’m afraid I’ll be killed,” she said.
The witness said she was in another room getting high on crack cocaine when three men entered the apartment. When she came out, Wills, 50, was being attacked and his girlfriend was screaming.
The witness said she heard Wills’ girlfriend yelling “give it to ‘em Nardo! Give ‘em what they want!” and saw a short man in a mask hitting Wills on the side of his face. Nardo was Wills’ nickname.
Prosecutors expressed suspicions that the crime may have been drug-related, but the judge said events, such as McRae’s comments on getting money from the apartment, were consistent with a robbery.
During the witness’s grand jury testimony, she said McRae, 66, left the apartment after the robbery. But, during the trial, she said McRae stayed behind. The witness also said there was tension between McRae and Wills’ girlfriend, and that McRae threatened to hurt the girlfriend because of the way she spoke to him.
The witness also noted that Wills always kept a knife with a pearl handle. When Glover, 40, and Barbour, 38, spoke to police after the incident, each had visible stab wounds. A knife, with Barbour’s blood on it, was found in a trashcan near the scene.
The witness is expected to be cross-examined on June 25.