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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- March 8, 2018
Court
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Homicides
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Suspects
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The man arrested in 2016 for the fatal stabbing of Dimas Fuentes Lazo was found guilty Feb. 23 of second-degree murder while armed. He is scheduled for sentencing on April 27, 2018.
Christian Romero was arrested in June of 2016, for the murder of Lazo, 38, on the 800 Block of Kennedy Street, NW. DNA recovered from the scene, including a Coca-Cola bottle, a knife and a broken watch connect 23-year-old Romero to the scene of the crime, along with witness testimonies and video surveillance footage, according to the charging documents.
The Metropolitan Police Department first arrested Francisco Daniel Ayala, who, at the time was 23 years old. Ayala presented an alibi and charges were later dropped.
On the night of the homicide, Romero, 25, who is a resident of Hyattsville, Md., was apparently looking for a lounge in the area. According to testimony from Romero and other witnesses, Romero smacked the rearview mirror of a witness’ car so hard that he broke it.
The jury was presented with different scenarios of the timing of events minutes before the homicide. According to surveillance videos, Romero, Lazo and a witness were seen talking after the witness told or yelled out to Romero after he broke his rearview mirror. Romero is seen crossing the street and conversing with Lazo and another witness, throwing his hands up several times during the conversation.
According to Romero, he was saying he didn’t want any trouble. But, the prosecution says he was being volatile and cursing. The prosecution also pointed out that the witness and Lazo both stepped back from Romero throughout their interactions leading up to the fight.
According to surveillance video, Romero is seen thrusting at both Lazo and another man, who was Lazo’s friend. After the friend runs behind a car, Romero is seen stabbing Lazo multiple times.
Romero claims self defense. He said Lazo was standing when he ran. Surveillance videos confirm that Lazo was standing at the time Romero ran, but within minutes Lazo collapsed to the ground.
The prosecution said that if Romero thought he was in real danger, he would have stopped someone or an officer, but he never did.