Several Witnesses Testify at Murder Trial

By Blair McLendon [former] - October 28, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

Four witnesses testified during the third day of a murder trial.

The defendant, 63-year-old Robert Dean Jr., is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing 38-year-old Tamiya White in the neck with a screwdriver on March 31, 2018, on the 1000 block of Mount Olivet Road, NE.

During the Oct. 27 proceedings, the prosecution called a neighbor who took Dean in after the stabbing to the witness stand. The witness said he and his wife were unaware of the incident when they let him into their home.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Anthony Matthews asked if the witness came in contact with the police after watching a television news clip that reported the crime and mentioned a $25,000 reward. The witness responded that he contacted the police for moral reasons, not out of a desire for money.

The prosecution’s second witness, a woman who works for the private forensic DNA lab Bode Technology, testified that the DNA samples tested from items confiscated during the investigation were accurate and corresponded with the victim and the defendant.

A professor of systems pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania with expertise in toxicology testified that the methodology of tracing the drug PCP in Tamiya White’s blood was accurate. The results also showed she had traces of cocaine along with PCP, she said. The prosecution asked the professor if this would have affected her behavior, and he confirmed that there are different symptoms affecting people who use this drug.

The trial is set to pick back up on Oct. 28.