A fatal stabbing defendant testified in her trial before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on Aug. 6.
Vanessa Bonaparte, 34, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and misdemeanor destruction of property for her alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 31-year-old Dwayne Boyd. Bonaparte allegedly stabbed Boyd with two kitchen knives on June 22, 2024, on the 3500 block of East Capitol Street, SE. Boyd sustained two wounds and died at the scene.
In her testimony, Bonaparte claimed that she stabbed Boyd in self-defense, and didn’t know he had died from the wounds until the next morning.
“I didn’t mean to kill that boy,” Bonaparte said. “I just wanted to get away.”
Bonaparte described the altercation that preceded Boyd’s death. She said she returned to Boyd’s apartment to retrieve her laptop, which she had lent to Boyd’s romantic partner earlier in the day. When the couple refused to open the front door, Bonaparte said she grew angry, and a fight ensued. Bonaparte claimed the couple eventually let her in.
Kevann Gardner, Bonaparte’s attorney, replayed a voicemail recording of the fight, first introduced by the prosecution earlier in the trial.
In the recording, the sound of the door opening and what Bonaparte said was her entering the apartment is audible. As the argument intensified, a slap can be heard, which Bonaparte said was Boyd hitting her in the face.
That’s when the fight became physical, Bonaparte contended. According to Bonaparte, Boyd pushed her into the kitchen and threw her to the ground. In court, Bonaparte stood up, and mimed how Boyd allegedly choked her over the kitchen counter before she grabbed two knives from the counter.
“I was distraught,” said Bonaparte and she thought, “I have to get back to my children.” Bonaparte continued, “I was thinking, run. Run.”
Bonaparte teared up as she recalled that day. “I thought I was going to die,” she said. The next day, after hearing that Boyd died, Bonaparte said she turned herself into the police.
Boyd’s romantic partner, who was present at the apartment when he died, previously testified in the trial that Bonaparte reportedly broke all of the windows when she arrived that night. The romantic partner claimed Bonaparte was upset that Boyd didn’t want to be in a relationship with her.
Gardner also asked Bonaparte about her early life. Bonaparte grew up moving around DC with her mother and siblings, and enjoyed singing and dancing in church.
Bonaparte attributed initiating drug use as a coping mechanism after her three-year-old daughter’s sudden death from stage four cancer in 2018. According to Bonaparte, she missed her daughter’s death because it was her son’s first birthday and she wanted to sing to him.
“I was 25 at the time,” Bonaparte said, “so it crushed my whole world.”
Six years later, Bonaparte said she met Boyd a month before his death when they were introduced by a mutual friend, and smoked and drank together.
“I thought he was a real cool, laid back guy,” Bonaparte said about Boyd.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution has painted the dynamic among Bonaparte, Boyd, and Boyd’s romantic partner as a love triangle. In her testimony, Bonaparte disputed this, explaining that she and Boyd were just friends.
Bonaparte said, during the limited time she spent with Boyd’s romantic partner, it never felt awkward or negative.
Boyd and Bonaparte had sex once during the month they were friends, Bonaparte alleged. However, she said there were no romantic feelings involved.
“I was high, and it was like a heat of the moment,” Bonaparte said.
At the time of Boyd’s death, Bonaparte said she had a serious boyfriend. She smiled on the stand as she reminisced about memories with him.
Bonaparte also explained that she witnessed Boyd engage in violence on two previous occasions, both towards his romantic partner. Once, he beat her and she called the police, Bonaparte claimed. The second time, Bonaparte said Boyd punched his romantic partner in the face and chased her.
Bonaparte is set to resume her testimony the next day of trial. As a result of time constraints, the prosecution wasn’t able to complete much of their cross-examination.
The prosecution’s questions focused on Bonaparte’s conflicting testimony about her clothes on the day of Boyd’s death. In security camera footage from outside a liquor store, Bonaparte wore a pink crop-top. However, in her testimony, Bonaparte claimed she wore a colorful dress at the store, the same dress she wore when Boyd was stabbed.
Before the defense called Bonaparte to testify, the prosecution dismissed the destruction of property worth $1,000 or more charge, reducing it to a misdemeanor destruction of property charge.
Aside from Bonaparte, the defense also called the mother of Boyd’s child.
Bonaparte’s other attorney, Roderick Thompson, asked the witness about “unpeaceful” incidents that occurred between her and Boyd during the course of their three year relationship.
“It was an altercation between me and Dwayne about the handling of the child,” the witness said. “A gun was pulled out.” The witness alleged Boyd pointed the gun at her head.
Thompson highlighted this incident as one of many outlined in a Civil Protection Order (CPO) against Boyd that the mother of his child petitioned for on Dec. 14, 2015. The CPO detailed multiple incidents of physical and verbal abuse allegedly committed by Boyd against the witness.
In addition, Thompson presented the witness with police and investigative reports from 2015 to 2018. The witness claimed she did not remember specifics, but recognized some of the police reports.
In cross-examination, the witness testified that she and Boyd remained friends after their relationship ended.
“I’m on the wrong side,” the witness said. “I feel like they’re trying to paint a picture of him to be a bad guy.”
The defense also called a witness that said she was Boyd’s widow. They only asked her to identify herself, and the prosecution had no questions for her.
Parties are slated to reconvene on Aug. 10.
