Decedent’s Mother testifies in 2014 Murder Trial

By D.C. Witness Staff - June 15, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

The mother of a 2014 murder victim took the stand June 14 to testify about the hours leading up to her son’s death.

The defendant, Andre Joyner, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing Jamie Washington to death on the 700 block of 18th Street, NE. Joyner, 27, is also charged with attempting to get rid of evidence from the night of the murder.

Washington’s mother, told the jury that, on the night her son was murdered, Joyner; Joyner’s girlfriend; and the girlfriend’s cousin questioned her about Washington’s whereabouts. During opening statements the prosecution said Joyner’s girlfriend believed Washington stole her laptop.

The mother told the prosecution that the girlfriend was angry, yelling and going “on and on and on” about the missing laptop.

Apparently, Joyner stood by the door while his girlfriend searched the apartment for the laptop.

The mother said, Joyner kept telling his girlfriend: “Don’t worry, I got this.”

The mother told the prosecution the phrase made her fear for her son’s safety. Washington was not in the apartment at the time.

“I said ‘are y’all going to do something to my son,” the mother told the jury. She said no one answered her question.

However, during cross-examination, Young agreed that Joyner could have said, “Don’t worry, I got this,” in an effort to calm his girlfriend down.

The trial is expected to resume on June 18.