A lead Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective continued testimony in a shooting preliminary hearing before DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on Oct. 3.
Carlton Simon, 20, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Angel Dominguez on May 29, 2025 that occurred on the 900 block of Florida Avenue, NW.
The prosecution called the detective for Simon’s case to testify about videos from the day of the shooting that capture the crime scene as well as the flight path of the suspect following the incident into the U Street Metro station.
Footage of the incident depicts an individual wearing black Purple brand jeans with a white tag, a black hoodie, and black and white Jordan shoes, apparently holding a handgun in their right hand, firing multiple shots, and then running down 10th Street, NW. The detective testified that they believed this individual to be Simon.
Different video footage from the 2200 block of 10th Street, NW provided by Howard University apparentlyshows the same individual running eastbound down 10th Street, which the detective testified saying they believed this to be Simon’s flightpath following the shooting.
After being shown multiple angles of video footage from the same block, the detective testified that they believed Simon ran into the alley on the corner of 10th Street, NW.
The prosecution then presented security footage from the intersection of 11th and U Streets, NW, where the detective identified Simon to be crossing the intersection and running down 11th Street. The detective also testified that three MPD squad cars are seen driving down U Street NW, and that the suspect, identified as Simon, appears to stop running and slow his pace as they drive by.
The prosecution followed this by showing footage outside of the U Street Metro station minutes after the shooting, where the detective once again identified Simon near the entrance. The detective testified that they requested all security footage from three-to-four p. m. on the day of the shooting from Metro at the U Street station.
As the prosecution moved to show video footage inside of the Metro station, the detective testified that a still from this set of footage was used by MPD allegedly to identify Simon with a witness of the shooting. The video footage showed an individual, later identified as Simon, near the turnstiles of the U Street station, scan his SmartTrip card, and enter the tracks of the station.
The detective testified that after the footage showed the individual scanning his SmartTrip card, MPD requested subscriber information and transaction information for the U Street Metro station for that day. The detective testified that this information revealed that Carlton Simon’s SmartTrip card was ostensibly being used at the U Street Metro station at around 3:13 p. m. MPD documents recorded the shooting at 3:07 p. m.
The prosecution asked the detective if they were aware of the last stop Simon used his SmartTrip card that day, to which the detective testified that Simon’s transaction records showed that he last scanned his card at the Gallery Place Metro station.
The prosecution proceeded by showing footage from inside of the Gallery Place Metro station, where the detective identified the suspect exiting the station at approximately 3:38 p. m.
The prosecution asked the detective about the fact that in their arrest warrant, the detective mentioned that they believed Simon and the victim appeared to be classmates. The detective testified that this was true, and that Simon was present in school that day, according to attendance records.
The detective testified that besides requesting security footage following the shooting, MPD also requested footage in the morning outside of Simon’s home, as well as from both the Gallery Place and U Street Metro stations.
The prosecution showed security footage of the courtyard of Simon’s home on Benning Road, where the detective was able to identify a person said to be Simon wearing the same Purple brand black jeans with a white tag, black hoodie, and black and white Jordan shoes walking towards the street at approximately 9:46 a. m.
Another angle of the courtyard was also shown, and the detective once again testified that Simon was the individual captured on film.
Next, security footage inside of the U Street Metro station was shown, and the detective testified that MPD had requested all security footage from inside the station from 10-to-11 a. m. the morning of the shooting.
At approximately 10:23 a. m., the detective testified that Simon, wearing the same clothes, was waiting at the tracks of the metro station.
The prosecution also showed video footage of the individual identified as Simon exiting the station, where he is holding a cellphone in his left hand. The detective testified that the individual in the frame was Simon, and noted that on Simon’s right side an L-shaped bulge consistent with a firearm was visible.
The detective also testified that Simon’s hair was of note, as he was wearing a twist hairstyle where his hair was “long and out”.
The detective stated that during the shooting, video footage captured the suspect shooting with his right hand.
Simon first met with MPD detectives on June 18, where the detective testified that he complied with officers and was accompanied by his mother to be interviewed.
On Sept. 16, Simon was arrested, and the detective testified that at the time of his arrest, MPD seized his cellphone and filed the appropriate warrants in order to extract evidence from the phone.
The prosecution presented a number of images extracted from Simon’s cellphone, two of which were pictures of an individual holding a handgun that the detective testified believed to be Simon.
In one of the images, the individual’s face was blurred, but the detective testified that Simon was the individual in the image, given a similar build, and the fact that he was wearing the same black hoodie from the day of the shooting.
Another image that the prosecution presented to the detective was a screenshot from Instagram that listed a number of shooting victims within the D.C. area, where Dominguez appeared third on the list.
The prosecution also presented another screenshot from Instagram recovered from Simon’s phone that the detective testified was the victim and his friend.
The prosecution also presented allegedl conversations from Simon’s phone the day of the homicide, where the detective testified that Simon stated “I’m tryna bag him, I don’t GAF”.
GAF is a slang term for I don’t give a f***.
The prosecution also presented MPD’s extraction report for Simon’s Instagram account, which the detective testified was created on June 6 with the username “yourripnext”.
The prosecution then presented a screenshot of an Instagram livestream from an account with the same username, which the detective testified was Simon on the livestream. The detective also noted that Simon had appeared to cut his hair, which was longer the day of the shooting.
The prosecution also presented multiple different audio clips of rap songs from Simon’s phone. Lyrics in the song were observed to be saying “If I said I’m gonna kill you just know I mean it” and “When I pulled up with bruh I put one in his chest”. According to the detective, Dominguez was killed by a gunshot to the chest.
The detective testified that the voice in the recordings was recognizable as Simon’s voice given that Simon has a notable lisp that can be heard throughout the recordings.
Due to time constraints, Judge Edelman was unable to rule on probable cause.
Parties are slated to reconvene on Oct. 17.
