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By
Ella Munnelly
- November 20, 2024
Carjacking
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Daily Stories
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Suspects
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Trial continues with testimony from several prosecution witnesses in an armed carjacking case before DC Superior Court Judge Andrea Hertzfeld on Nov. 19.
Maurice Edwards is charged with armed carjacking and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for his alleged involvement in an incident that took place at the intersection of 48th Place and Lee Street, NE on March 11.
Azusa Beatty is his co-defendant and is charged with armed carjacking and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for her alleged involvement.
According to court documents, Edwards and his girlfriend, Beatty, ran a stop sign and struck the victim’s car while he was inside. They approached his car yelling and Edwards allegedly brandished a firearm at the victim. Beatty got into the car and allegedly drove off, while the victim, who testified today, was holding onto the side, but ultimately fell off.
Prosecution began by calling the victim, who testified that as he was holding on to his car in an effort to prevent the theft, Edwards yelled, “Get off the car before I F*** you up,” before pinning him to the ground.
Prosecution also called a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective who went to the victim’s home with a photo array, from which the victim ultimately identified a suspect as Edwards. The detective also explained that this was a “blind array”, which means he had no prior knowledge of who was the main suspect to prevent the detective prompting the identification process.
Prosecution called a monitoring expert from the Department of Corrections(DOC), who reviewed phone calls that were retrieved after they received a subpoena for Beatty’s records. Prosecutors presented the court with five phone calls made between Beatty and Edwards, during which they spoke about the incident as well as their relationship.
Under cross, Katherine Massey, one of Edwards defense attorney’s, asked the expert if in the phone calls presented to court the couple had ever made reference to planning a car crash, to which she responded they did not. Although when Massey asked if the couple had ever referenced being armed, or committing a crime, the expert could not recall.
Prosecutors also called a Special Agent with the US Attorney’s Office who investigates criminal cases and extracts data from cellphones. They presented text messages and images to the court, which the Special Agent confirmed were recovered from Edwards’s phone that contained images of firearms.
Parties are slated to reconvene Nov. 20.