Parties presented opening arguments before DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson on July 21 in a domestic homicide case.
Rayvon Slye, 34, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend, 30-year-old Andrea Bond. The incident occurred on the 1100 block of D Street, NE, on March 7, 2023. Bond sustained one stab wound to her chest.
Court documents report that Slye and Bond were in a tumultuous relationship during the year they were together. Both were reportedly arrested multiple times for domestic disputes against each other. Bond gave birth to their child two months before her death.
In their opening argument, the prosecution alleged that Slye invented his story. “The defendant admitted what he thought he couldn’t hide, and hid what he thought he could,” the prosecution said.
According to prosecutors, when Slye was first questioned by police, he claimed that he and Bond spent the night of March 6, 2023 out with their respective friend groups. When he later picked Bond up, Slye said she had already been stabbed. Slye alleged to police when they returned home he bandaged the wound and encouraged her to go to the doctor, to which she denied.
According to Slye’s recollection of events to the police, the couple spent time together that night before going to sleep. The prosecution said Bond was found dead the next morning by her family that lived in the house, as Slye was out getting food.
However, the prosecution explained expert witness testimony will discredit the story Slye told the police. They alleged that Slye stabbed Bond at the home and spent the night falsifying a story.
The prosecution also detailed the nature of their relationship, calling it “toxic and violent.” They claimed that Bond “tried to leave and never could,” and explained that a domestic violence expert will testify later in the trial.
“This was an intimate, private, domestic murder,” the prosecution said.
Kayla Wyatt, one of Slye’s attorneys, gave the opening statement for the defense. She urged the jury to not get “distracted” by the story the prosecution is attempting to “sell” them.
Wyatt focused on the forensic evidence in the case. Contrary to the prosecution’s explanation that Bond was stabbed in the house she and Slye were staying in, Wyatt said investigators found no blood at the scene. Bond had blood on her shoelaces, indicating she was stabbed while standing, Wyatt said.
“Not one drop [of blood]… in the house that the [prosecution] claims Ms. Bond was stabbed and killed in,” Wyatt said.
Wyatt said there are three main reasons why Slye should be found not guilty: there was no known argument between the couple that day, Slye tried to save Bond’s life by administering CPR and calling 911, and the prosecution’s story doesn’t make sense.
Moreover, Wyatt explained that Slye voluntarily spoke to officers numerous times, and never tried to run away or conceal his identity.
The forensic evidence isn’t simple in the case, Wyatt added. She disputed the prosecution’s claim that Bond died within 30 minutes of being stabbed. According to Wyatt, Bond was stabbed in her pulmonary artery, which caused mostly internal bleeding. In addition, Bond had alcohol and fentanyl in her system, making it difficult to discern her pain level.
According to Wyatt, this supports Slye’s claim that Bond was alive before the couple went to bed that night.
Wyatt also alleged that Bond overdosed in the Trinidad neighborhood the day before her murder, which is the same area she was in the night of her death.
Finally, Wyatt explained that the jury will hear from family members who will consistently describe Bond as loud and outspoken. Yet, Wyatt said, there were five other people in the house that night, and no one heard a dispute between Bond and Slye.
The prosecution then presented Bond’s cousin to testify, who lived in the house that Bond and Slye were staying in at the time of her death.
“She always liked to be the star of the show, she’s loud, vibrant. She was a good person,” Bond’s cousin said.
The prosecution presented photos of the house, which belongs to Bond and her cousin’s grandmother. When Bond died, the witness established he lived in the basement, while Bond and Slye were staying on the floor above, in the living room.
On Feb. 27, 2023, approximately a week before Bond’s death, the witness testified that there was an altercation between Bond and Slye on the porch of the house.
“They were just arguing in each other’s face,” Bond’s cousin said.
The witness established that he could hear the argument from his room in the basement, but he did not know what it was about. When he got to the porch, the cops were there. Bond’s cousin identified that night as the last time he saw Bond alive.
The prosecution also asked the witness about what he experienced on the morning of the incident. Bond’s cousin testified that at approximately 7:30 a. m. he woke up to footsteps above him that he did not think were not Bond’s.
“We lived in that house for so long, I could tell who was coming up and down the steps,” the witness said.
The witness explained he went upstairs two separate times that morning before he left for work. The first time, he saw Slye walking away from him to the couch. The second time, Slye was allegedly laying on the couch with his arm around Bond, however the witness said did not get a clear look at her and did not notice any movement from Bond.
Two-to-three hours later, the witness said he received a video from Slye’s family member performing CPR on Bond. He then rushed home from work, he said.
During cross-examination, Wyatt pointed out discrepancies between Bond’s cousin’s current testimony and the one he delivered to a grand jury on Dec. 5, 2023.
Wyatt read excerpts from that testimony’s transcript. To the grand jury, the witness said he woke up at 9:00 a. m. and went upstairs three times, leaving once to walk his dog and passing Bond and Slye on the couch in the living room around 10:30 a. m. Wyatt highlighted that the witness saw Bond and Slye more times than he testified about.
In addition, Wyatt asked the witness about his experience with Bond in the weeks leading up to the incident. He confirmed she was acting strange and she was possibly on drugs. The defense then presented a police interview the witness gave the afternoon of the incident.
“We thought she may have ODed [overdosed] or something,” the witness said in the interview.
Wyatt also asked about Bond’s relationship with her family, if she was “secretive” about her life, to which her cousin said yes.
During re-direct, Bond’s cousin clarified she was secretive about “her whereabouts…what was going on with her relationship,” but he did not know why.
Parties are set to reconvene on July 22 to hear from more witnesses.
