Eyewitness testifies in triple homicide trial

By D.C. Witness Staff - January 30, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

A Northeast D.C. resident and an eyewitness to a triple homicide that occurred in 1991 were called to the stand Jan. 29 to testify in a murder trial that began on Jan. 22.

Benito Valdez is currently standing trial for allegedly fatally shooting Curtis Pixley, Keith Simmons and Samantha Gillard on April 23, 1991, in Langdon Park. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, officers found the three bodies, lying facedown, with apparent gunshot wounds. Valdez was charged with first-degree murder on Feb. 16, 2016.

On the sixth day of trial, prosecutors called Ronnie Coppins, a resident of the neighborhood, to the witness stand. He was apparently the first person to discover the victims’ bodies. Coppins testified that he saw three bodies lying facedown in the grass.

Coppins’ testimony was corroborated by Michael A. Green, an eyewitness to the homicides, who the prosecution also called to testify. According to the prosecution, Green, 47, teamed up with Valdez to sell drugs on the morning of the homicides. He is the only eyewitness and is currently being held without bond for the alleged second-degree murder while armed of a separate homicide in 1999.

Green entered into a plea agreement with the government in 2016, pleading guilty to one count of second-degree murder for the homicide in 1999 and three counts of voluntary manslaughter for the homicides of Pixley,29; Simmons,24; and Gillard, 23.

Green told the jury about how he started selling drugs with a gang that controlled drug sales in Langdon Park. The gang he sold drugs with was able to control sales in the park due to Valdez’s aggressive reputation, the witness said.

Green told the jury he and Valdez were selling drugs in the early hours of April 23, 1991, in Langdon Park. Green said he and Pixley were neighbors on South Dakota Avenue in the Northeast quadrant of the city, which is about a five minute drive from the park.

According to Green’s testimony, Pixley and Simmons went to the park looking to buy drugs from him and Valdez. Pixley asked Valdez to buy three rocks of crack cocaine for $50, Green said. However, after Pixley handed the crack cocaine back to Valdez, some drugs were missing. Green said that neither Pixley or Simmons had the money to pay for the drugs, so Valdez pulled out a gun.

Later, according to Green’s testimony, Gillard sought out Pixley and Simmons and was forced to perform oral sex on Valdez as payment for the lost drugs. Green said Valdez ordered the three to lay down on their stomachs before he shot them with two different types of guns.

According to Green, he and Valdez then drove to Valdez’s mothers house to clean and disassemble the guns. Valdez’s mother drove the two to the Francis Scott Key Bridge where Valdez then threw both guns over the edge.

Green said Valdez paid someone named “Tricky Rick” with drugs to tell officers they were elsewhere during the homicide.

The trial is expected to continue on Jan. 30.