Case Acquitted: Boyfriend of Murder Victim is Reluctant Witness

By Audrey Staudacher - March 15, 2024
Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Tierra Posey was acquitted of all charges on March 20, 2024.

On March 14, DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo heard eyewitness testimony from the boyfriend of the victim in a fatal shooting.

Tierra Posey, 24, is charged with second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business for her alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Tia Carey on Jan. 6, 2020, at a gas station on the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue, NE. 

According to court documents, a physical altercation allegedly occurred between Posey and Carey in which Posey allegedly produced a firearm and fired two shots. Carey was severely injured and, despite quick medical intervention, succumbed to her injuries. 

Previous witness testimony claimed that Carey and Posey’s confrontation stemmed from Carey catching Posey with Carey’s boyfriend at the crime scene.

After the shooting occurred, surveillance footage depicts the boyfriend allegedly leaving the scene in Carey’s sister’s vehicle with four children in the backseat. Court documents state that he drove the vehicle to the children’s grandmother’s house.

The prosecution called the boyfriend to the stand. When prosecutors asked if the boyfriend was reluctant to testified he said, “I don’t want to be here.”

He explained that he did “not like thinking about it,” referring to the shooting. 

However, he testified that he and Carey “got into an argument,” at the gas station because he “got caught cheating,” on her with Posey.

According to him, the physical fight between Posey and Carey came out of nowhere. “I was trying to alleviate it from the beginning,” he said. “I was mad at them for even fighting.”

However, as the prosecution continued with questioning, the witness often refused to answer, or claimed he didn’t remember. Several times he requested to speak to his lawyer before continuing and got frustrated with prosecutors’ questions.

“You keep saying a moment, a moment, a moment,” he said. “There was no moment where you could think. It all happened so fast. There was no pause like in the video.”

Then one prosecutor read from a transcript of the boyfriend’s plea deal he took in connection with the case. He pled guilty to fleeing law enforcement, tampering with evidence, and carrying a pistol without a license. In the transcript, the boyfriend allegedly testified that no one had threatened Posey during the altercation.

The prosecution in Posey’s case also was involved in the boyfriend’s case. When asked if he remembered the first time he spoke to prosecutors, the boyfriend replied, “Yeah. You sent me to jail.”

On cross-examination, Posey’s defense attorney, Kevann Gardner, asked the boyfriend about allegedly leaving the scene in a vehicle with Carey’s kids inside. While the boyfriend had initially been charged with kidnapping while armed, his plea deal dismissed this charge.

“You took those kids away from the gas station and to safety, right?” Gardner asked of his actions, to which the boyfriend agreed.

Gardner then stated that the boyfriend’s plea deal was written by the same prosecutor in charge of Posey’s case.

He argued against release for the boyfriend while he awaited trial, according to Gardner. 

“So in order to get out of jail, you had to say you didn’t see anyone threaten Posey, correct?” Gardner asked the witness, to which he agreed.

On redirect, the prosecutor was quick to ask the boyfriend if he intended to admit to lying under oath when he took his plea deal.

The boyfriend testified that he “didn’t really see the plea deal.”

“So you lied,” said the prosecutor.

The boyfriend denied lying to the court, but maintained that he didn’t understand the plea when he signed it. When pressed on this, he stated, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The prosecutor who met with the boyfriend then asked if he had “ill will” towards the prosecution due to their involvement in his case.

In response, the boyfriend demanded, “Do you have ill will towards me?” 

When the prosecution denied any malitent, the boyfriend disagreed. “Yes, you do.”

The prosecutor then read out the boyfriend’s criminal history to the jury, including three pending cases during his time in jail.

“I plead the Fifth,” the boyfriend said, then testified that he was high on drugs when he signed the plea deal.

Parties are slated to reconvene on March 15.