Murder Trial Continues Into First Day of Witness Testimony

By D.C. Witness Staff - March 29, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

A murder trial continued with prosecutors calling five people to the witness stand. The witnesses included the victim’s ex-wife, three police officers and a crime scene technician.

The defendant, Marquette Jordan, is accused of stabbing 48-year-old Ivan Lynch to death in an apartment complex on the 900 block of 5th Street, SE.

“Your day in court has arrived,” DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt told Jordan during the March 28 proceedings.

Following the jury selection on March 24, attorneys delivered their opening arguments. Prosecutors are seeking to prove the 30-year-old defendant guilty of first-degree murder while armed, armed robbery, threat to kidnap or injure a person, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon and simple assault.

Lynch was killed during the early hours of April 30, 2018. He and his ex-wife ended a 15-year marriage shortly before the homicide. The ex-wife testified that on the day before his death, Lynch was at his friend’s house with their two sons.

The prosecution’s first law enforcement witness was one of three officers who responded to the stabbing. When he arrived at the scene, the officer heard yelling in an elevator but could not make out what was being said. When he and his partners arrived at the apartment, they encountered a friend of Jordan’s, who said the apartment was his mother’s. He was placed in handcuffs to secure the scene but was not being considered a suspect. No blood was observed on him, the witness said. Another responding officer said the distressed man was put in handcuffs in an effort to de-escalate the situation.

The first officer confirmed to defense attorney Elliot Queen that his unit was dispatched for a simple assault, not a homicide. A prosecutor then asked him if dispatch sometimes gets it wrong, which he said was true. Queen asked one of the officers if the dispatcher upgraded the simple assault to a homicide at any point. The officer answered, “no”.

The prosecution displayed images from an officer’s body-worn camera of a witness who had a personal relationship with Jordan at the time. One image showed her sitting on a bench while holding a pillow and another image showed her bleeding from her nose and forearm. The last image showed her wearing no shoes, with spots of blood on the pillow she held.

A soundless video clip from the body-worn camera showed an officer talking with the woman. He testified that she had tears in her eyes and was shaking and crying.

Jordan was arrested on the same day as the homicide. A crime scene technician with the Department of Forensic Sciences took pictures of Jordan and the two witnesses. She said material suspected of being blood could be seen on the defendant’s clothing. The keys to Lynch’s Dodge Ram Truck were also found on Jordan.

Queen asked the technician if blood was found on her client’s hands. The technician denied this.

The defense made the court aware that they were in favor of having a mistrial. The defense believes the jury may have seen the ankle shackles the defendant wore during jury selection. Judge Brandt said she would address this during the next day’s proceedings, which were scheduled for March 29.