Cellphone Records Help Judge Find Probable Cause

By D.C. Witness Staff - August 14, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

During a preliminary hearing Aug. 9, a judge found probable cause that a murder defendant killed a man from his cellphone records.

Raymond Avent, 19, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for the killing of 23-year-old Rafiq Hawkins on the 1200 block of Brentwood Road, NE on March 23.

A Metropolitan Police Department detective told DC Superior Court Judge Kimberly Knowles that he believed Avent was connected to the murder based on cellphone records as well as photos and videos found on Avent’s phone.

The detective said surveillance video, that was not shown in court, showed three individuals getting out of a car and shooting at someone near Brentwood Road on March 23.

Another surveillance video, which was also not shown in court, showed three individuals walking into an apartment complex on Bladensburg Road in Maryland, the detective said.

The detective said the distance between the crime scene and the apartment complex is about two miles and that the individuals walked into the complex six minutes after the murder.

The detective said the photos and videos, found on Avent’s phone, were of him holding guns that matched the description of the guns that were recovered six days after the murder.

Apparently, an eye witness told police that people got out of a dark colored Cadillac and shot at the victim on the night of the murder.

According to the detective, a Cadillac Seville, which Avent was riding in, was pulled over on March 29. Avent was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm.

The detective also said the guns were thrown out of the Cadillac before the individuals were pulled over.

Defense counsel, Elizabeth Weller, said Avent’s DNA was not found on the weapons and the detective only received the arrest information through other officers, which she said she believed was hearsay.

Judge Knowles said there was probable cause that Avent killed Hawkins because of cellphone tower evidence that placed Avent near the crime scene and an apartment complex in a short timespan after the murder.

Avent’s next hearing is scheduled on Sept. 16.