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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- March 19, 2019
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Suspects
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The prosecution in a murder trial told a jury that the defendant was guilty because he was near the scene of the crime and did not like the victim. However, the defense says that a key witness in the case was wrong.
Kimberly Thompson is charged with first-degree murder while armed, among other offenses, for allegedly shooting 53-year-old Charles Mayo on the 1900 block of Bennett Place, NE. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Thompson was shot on Dec. 10, 2015, and succumbed to his injuries seven days later.
During closing arguments March 18, Thompson’s defense attorney, Arthur Luk, told the jury that the witness, who had very little sleep the night before, was listening to music, and was high on marijuana. Counsel said the witness didn’t see what happened.
The witness, Mayo’s nephew, previously told the jury that he saw Thompson shoot his uncle from a silver car. At the time, Thompson drove a silver Mercedes.
“I saw the man’s face through the window as he drove up,” the nephew said, referring to the defendant who was driving a silver Mercedes Benz at the time.
The nephew admitted to getting parts of his testimony wrong.
In addition to the incorrect testimony, the defense said that, during the beginning of the investigation, a detective mistook Thompson’s Mercedes as the vehicle of interest.
According to the lead detective on the case, a car, similar to Thompson’s car, was captured by surveillance cameras in the area. It is not clear if police located the owner of the other car.
D.C. Witness reported earlier that experts linked shell casings from the scene to a gun in the trunk of Thompson’s car, however the defense said that Thompson didn’t have a motive to kill the victim.
However, the prosecution said that a possible motive was Thompson’s dislike for Mayo. D.C. Witness reported earlier that Thompson told the police that Mayo was “cruddy, a drug dealer and a bad person.”
The prosecution also said cell phone records placed Thompson, 53, on the street where Mayo was killed at the time of the murder.
Apparently, a witness told the jury she saw Thompson regularly in the area of the shooting. She said that a week or so prior to the shooting, Thompson asked her for a place to stay, but she turned him down because of his “irritable attitude.” She also said she saw him sleeping in his car in the area.
The jury began deliberations on March 18.
Louie Shearon contributed to this article.