An ex-girlfriend and a one-time foster sister of the defendant both testified in a homicide trial before DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park on June 16.
Michael Wells, 55, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder while armed, second-degree murder while armed, two counts of firearm possession during a crime of violence, tampering with physical evidence, and arson. These charges stem from his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of his foster sister, 23-year-old Makia Mosby at her home on the 1200 block of Valley Avenue, SE, on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 2005. Mosby sustained burns and gunshot wounds.
The prosecution called another one of Wells’ foster sisters, who was 15 years old at the time of the murder. Wells’ mother fostered the witness after Wells and Mosby moved out of the house.
The foster sister was close with Mosby, and thought of her like a sister, she said. She described Mosby as “very bubbly” and “protective as she spoiled her baby.”
Recalling Thanksgiving 2005, the witness explained who was at her foster mother’s house. She said that no one could get a hold of Wells the entire night, despite calling repeatedly. Three different members of their family attempted to call Wells before dinner began, she said.
The foster sister said Wells’ mother received a call that Mosby’s apartment was on fire, and that “everybody became pretty frantic, just trying to figure out what was going on.”
The witness went to the scene along with a few other family members, in their mother’s green Cadillac and did not see Wells. After the fire, she claimed the family didn’t hear from Wells for two-to-three days. When she first saw him, the family was sitting around discussing Mosby’s murder, yet, “Wells was sitting there with no emotion,” the witness claimed.
Prompted by questions from the prosecution, the foster sister also said that back in 2005, “You could tell [Wells] was really hurt” over the death of his close friend, Michael Carter, also known as Black.
In cross-examination, Wells’ attorney, Molly Bunke asked about Wells’ reported gunshot wound on his thigh. The foster sister said when she first saw Wells’ after Mosby’s murder she did not recall noticing a limp or bandage, but Wells was seated. She did notice scratches on his neck, she said. In previous testimony, she claimed that “Makia would have fought her attacker.”
During the redirect, the witness confirmed that Wells was wearing pants, and the prosecution argued it would not have been possible to identify the wounds defense was claiming.
A former girlfriend of Wells was then called by the prosecution. She and Wells dated on and off starting in high school, she said.
The prosecution asked the ex-girlfriend about a conversation she and Wells shared years prior as they were smoking in his white Cadillac. She alleged that Wells confessed to shooting Mosby, dousing her in baby oil and setting her apartment on fire.
According to the witness, Wells also told her that he put the gun in his waistband after the murder and it discharged, leaving him with an accidental gunshot wound in his thigh.
The ex-girlfriend also testified that Wells claimed the motive for killing Mosby was to avenge the murder of Carter, which he believed Mosby was involved in arranging.
In April 2013, the ex-girlfriend first recounted this story to a detective who was interviewing her for a different investigation. During the defense’s cross-examination, attorney Hannah Claudio provided medical records that showed the witness was in and out of a psychiatric hospital three times throughout the period she was speaking to detectives in 2013. One of these interviews took place an hour after she was discharged from the hospital.
Based on Claudio’s questions, the ex-girlfriend confirmed that she was undergoing manic episodes and using drugs at the time, which led her to have hallucinations. She was administratively discharged from the hospital for threatening staff, according to Claudio, which the witness confirmed.
During the redirect, the prosecutor asked the ex-girlfriend if her hallucinations in 2013 ever involved Wells’ voice or their conversation when he allegedly confessed, and she said no.
“Will you ever forget what he told you in that car?” the prosecutor asked. “No,” the ex-girlfriend said.
Parties are set to reconvene on June 17.
