Prosecutors presented the search history of a defendant’s phone in which they say she repeatedly sought information about a shooting during a six co-defendant homicide trial before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on May 29.
Erwin Dubose, 31, Kamar Queen, 28, Damonta Thompson, 28, and William Johnson-Lee, 22, are charged with conspiracy, premeditated first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, assault with significant bodily injury while armed, among other charges, for their alleged involvement in the mass shooting that killed 31-year-old Donnetta Dyson, 24-year-old Keenan Braxton, and 37-year-old Johnny Joyner. The incident occurred on the 600 block of Longfellow Street, NW on Sept. 4, 2021, and injured three additional individuals.
Mussay Rezene, 32, and Toyia Johnson, 53, are charged with accessory after the fact while armed and tampering with physical evidence for their alleged involvement in assisting the other defendants discard evidence and avoid arrests.
A digital analyst from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) resumed his testimony and verified extractions from three different cell phones prosecutors alleged belonged to Johnson and Queen.
The first phone was associated with two Apple ID email accounts, one of which was allegedly registered to Johnson. Prosecutors presented evidence of 53 search history entries from the device between Oct. 2 and 12, 2021. During that period, the user searched for local news, Fox 45 News, and information related to shootings. Notable searches included: “shooting on georgia ave silver spring md” and “2 charged, more suspects sought in DC shooting that killed 3, injured 3.”
During cross-examination, Johnson’s attorney, David Akulian pointed out that the phone was registered to multiple people and the analyst confirmed it’s impossible to know for certain who was using the phone at a specific time. Akulian also noted the web history could have been unintentional if the user clicked on a link instead of initiating a specific search.
The prosecution alleged the other two phones belonged to Queen and displayed messages between Queen and a contact named “Big Money [heart emoji]”. They pointed out that consistent messages paused between 6:40 p. m. and 8:44 p. m. on Sept. 4, 2021. According to court documents, the incident occurred at 7:33 p. m.
The trial is scheduled to resume on June 2.
