In closing arguments, defense counsel argued that “there are multiple doubts” in a domestic homicide case against their client before DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson on Aug. 3.
Rayvon Slye, 34, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend Andrea Bond, 30, on March 7, 2023, on the 1000 block of D Street, NE. Bond suffered one stab wound to her upper left chest.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrived on the scene after Slye called 911 in the afternoon of March 7, 2023 to report that Bond was not responsive. Prosecutors played a recording of this call for the jury, in which Slye and Bond’s family members expressed confusion about whether she was conscious or breathing.
In the call, the 911 operator then directed Slye and the others present to place Bond on the floor, facing upward. Slye performed CPR on Bond according to the operator’s instructions until EMS arrived.
According to court documents, Slye and Bond had reportedly been physically violent with each other on multiple occasions.
The prosecution introduced a 911 call made by Bond in February 2023 where she was crying and screaming, “Please, please, come help me, help me” and “Get off me.” When asked by the operator in the call what was happening, Slye said, “Nothing ma’am.”
After the prosecution rested its case, Kayla Wyatt, Slye’s attorney, called a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer who investigated Bond’s death to testify about Slye’s compliance with police. The officer said he met Slye on the front porch of the house when responding to the scene and that Slye willingly went with police to be interviewed.
In cross-examination, prosecutors confirmed with the officer that other law enforcement officials were already on the scene by the time he arrived.
In closing arguments, both parties attempted to create a timeline of events of the hours before and after Bond’s death.
According to the defense’s theory, Bond was fatally stabbed by an unidentified woman in the Trinidad neighborhood on March 6, 2023. Slye’s other attorney, Kevin Mosley, said that when Slye met Bond later that day, she insisted that he not call the police about her stab wound because she did not want to upset her family.
Instead, Mosley said Slye accompanied Bond to her family’s home, where she cleaned up in the bathroom and threw out her bloody shirt. According to Mosley, Slye was unaware of the severity of Bond’s injury and put a bandage on the wound before the couple passed out on a loveseat in the living room.
Mosley claimed Bond died from the stab wound to her pulmonary artery slowly filling her chest cavity with blood overnight.
The prosecution said the defense theory was “absurd” and equated “a hole in the artery to a plumbing leak.”
When Bond came home on March 6, 2023, multiple witnesses said she looked normal, did not have blood on her, and was in a “cheerful mood,” according to the prosecution. “You’re going to notice a stab wound to the heart,” said the prosecutor.
According to the prosecution, Bond would not have been able to live for multiple hours after being stabbed during a fight in Trinidad. Mosley rebutted that prosecutors “just saying it’s not possible is not proof.”
Prosecutors alleged Slye stabbed Bond at some time in the morning of March 7, 2023 and then laid next to her until Bond’s family discovered she looked “lifeless” in the afternoon.
Mosley questioned how Slye could have stabbed Bond overnight without any of the individuals in the house noticing any screaming, crashing, or a plea for help. “No one heard a thing,” said Mosley.
Mosley also emphasized the prosecution’s lack of physical evidence, as no weapon was recovered and there was “not a single drop of blood” on the loveseat where Bond was found unconscious.
The prosecution said that while they cannot account for every detail of the night of March 6, 2023, the law allows jurors to draw reasonable inferences.
Parties are slated to reconvene when the jury reaches a verdict.
