Defense Questions Witness’s Credibility After Failing To Identify Murder Defendant

By D.C. Witness Staff - August 22, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

During a preliminary hearing Aug. 21, a defense attorney questioned the reliability of a key witness who could not pick a murder defendant out of a photo line up.

Demetrius Void, 32, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for his alleged role in the death of 24-year-old Anthony Daniel Lawson on the 6200 Block of Eastern Avenue, NE in September of 2018.

According to court documents, Void was at a Shell gas station earlier on the day of the murder when, on video, he pulled out a gun on his mother and took the keys to a car that was registered under his name.

Void then returned to the gas station later and allegedly killed Lawson after a verbal dispute.

Defense counsel, Matthew Davies, said, after questioning the lead detective from the case, that a key witness who saw the murder was not credible because the witness was unable to pick Void’s picture out of a photo lineup. Apparently, the witness only knew Void through his mother.

The defense said that Void only took the car from his mother because she had gotten an absurd amount of traffic tickets while driving the vehicle, but that does not mean he killed Lawson.

The prosecution argued that surveillance footage puts Void at the scene of the crime and that none of the witnesses had any bias towards Void, because they all knew him through his mother.

DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson said the witness was credible and reliable because multiple witnesses corroborated their account of what happened despite not being able to choose Void from a lineup.

Judge Dayson ruled that there was probable cause that Void committed the murder.

Void is being held without bail.

A status hearing is scheduled on Oct. 17.