Murder Trial Continues With Prosecutors Calling 7 Witnesses to Testify

By Jakob Rios [former] , Alisha Budhwani [former] - April 5, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

A murder trial continued with prosecutors calling seven witnesses, including forensic and medical experts, a police officer and the defendant’s close friend.

Marquette Jordan, 30, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing 40-year-old Ivan Lynch to death during the early hours of April 30, 2018. Lynch was found lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor of an apartment on the 900 block of 5th Street, SE. He was eventually pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to court documents.

The first witness called to testify during the April 4 proceedings was the chief doctor in charge of the trauma center at that hospital. One of the prosecutors on the case asked her about the day Lynch entered the emergency room. She recounted how hospital staff began performing mechanical CPR on him. This occurred at 4:13  a.m., but Lynch was pronounced dead at 4:14 a.m.

“We pronounce folks dead if they are, in fact, dead,” the doctor said. Defense attorney Elliot Queen did not cross-examine her.

A member of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner then took the stand and verified the photos she took as part of Lynch’s autopsy. Her testimony was followed by that of the deputy chief medical examiner, a certified expert in forensic pathology.

Prosecutors displayed pictures from the autopsy, including close-up images of each stab wound. The deputy chief medical examiner said one of the stab wounds to Lynch’s left chest area punctured his heart. She said Lynch would have had to be left laying down for a number of hours before being taken to the hospital.

The prosecutor asked her what she would conclude as the manner of death.

“Homicide,” she responded.  

Defense attorney Elliot Queen asked the witness if she could tell how Lynch was stabbed. She said she could not.

In the aftermath of the deadly stabbing, a member of the Department of Forensic Sciences went to the crime scene and collected evidence. She told the prosecution about how she found a cellphone on the side of a road near the apartment where the stabbing occurred.

The apartment is located in the Navy Yard neighborhood, near the Southeast Freeway. A supervisor at the security company Brilliance Surveillance verified some of the surrounding areas where Jordan could be seen after the homicide from the school outside the apartments.

The jury saw 14 video clips from the playground at the school and off school grounds. In several of these videos, Jordan can be seen walking through the playground or passing the school with two children. He was with two children when he was apprehended on the same day as the homicide.

After Jordan was detained by police, a K9 unit was called in as Metropolitan Police Department officers searched the area for a possible murder weapon. No weapons were recovered. An officer who works with the K-9 unit took the witness stand, and jurors viewed body-worn camera footage of the search.

The day’s final witness was Jordan’s close friend, who gave a detailed account of the night of the homicide.

“He is a friend and like a brother,” she said when asked how she knew the defendant.

The witness said she had plans to “chill” with Jordan and some other people, and they all went to an apartment together to drink and socialize. This group included Jordan’s girlfriend, her two young children, Lynch and another friend of the defendant.  

She said a verbal argument broke out between Jordan and his girlfriend. Lynch tried to intervene and give Jordan an “old man talk,” but a physical fight broke out between the two. She said she could not see anything after this fight started, as she grabbed the children and all faced the wall until it went quiet.  

Once the “tussling,” was finished, she left the children with their mother and quickly left the apartment. She did see Lynch lying on the ground but said she did not see what had happened to him. After stepping down from the witness stand, she blew the defendant a kiss and left the courtroom.   

At this point, the prosecution told DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt they would call several more witnesses during the next day of the trial.

After dismissing the jury, Judge Brandt thanked Jordan for his good behavior. In previous days, Jordan had built up a reputation for being noisy and interrupting testimony. 

The trial was scheduled to resume on April 5.