Parties delivered opening statements in a re-trial for a homicide case before DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt on Sept. 1.
Demonte Gibson, 28, Tre’Quan Nelson, 26, and Asani Forte, 29 are charged with conspiracy, first-degree premeditated murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, and destruction of property less than $1,000. The charges stem from their alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Delonte King on Nov. 3, 2021 at the 2800 block of 14th Street, NW. Another individual sustained a gunshot during the incident but survived.
Gibson and Nelson are also charged with three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and Nelson with an additional charge of possession of a firearm by a convict.
Gibson was convicted by a jury of possession of a firearm by a convict on May 7, 2025, however, the jury was unable to reach an unanimous verdict for all other charges in regards to Gibson and Forte.
“Two armed cowards ran up behind [King] and shot him to death. We know who those two cowards are,” the prosecution told the jury, pointing at Gibson and Nelson. She deemed their acts that afternoon of “violence and sabotagery.”
According to the prosecution, it was a “freakishly beautiful afternoon,” when Gibson, Nelson and Forte decided to attack. King sustained two gunshot wounds, while the surviving victim sustained one to his arm “inches from his heart.”
“By the grace of God, only Delonte King was killed that day,” the prosecutor asserted to the jury. She argued the prosecution doesn’t have a motive for the shooting, but the jury will “be convinced it was them.”
The prosecution claimed Gibson and Nelson were the shooters, while Forte, who is charged as an aider and abetter, stood as a “look-out” for the shooters, and helped them evade law enforcement after the shooting. According to the prosecution, surveillance footage shows Forte yelling at the shooters “Feds, Feds, go the other way,” as a U.S. Secret Service officer was responding to the shooting.
“We see a little head poke out. Who does it belong to? Asani Forte,” the prosecutor narrated surveillance footage.
According to the prosecution, Gibson and Nelson went one way, while Forte ran another way to meet at “their pre-arranged meeting place,” Forte’s apartment.
She continued narrating surveillance footage, pointing to Forte making a “beckoning gesture” at the others. “‘Come on guys, follow me,’ and they did,” the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor told the jury the defendants each identified themselves in surveillance footage presented to them by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Gibson, according to the prosecutor, told MPD detectives he didn’t know what happened, but wanted to make sure he wasn’t shot. “We know he wasn’t shot, because he was doing the shooting,” the prosecutor asserted.
“I see myself, that’s me,” the prosecutor claimed Nelson told detectives, after his girlfriend had already identified him to MPD.
The prosecution also argued DNA evidence will link the defendants, with cartridges recovered from the scene having Nelson and Gibson’s DNA. “This guy, Demonte Gibson, is all over it,” the prosecutor insisted.
“At the end of the trial I will ask you to find them guilty, because they surely are,” the prosecutor asserted.
“There was no conspiracy, there was never any plan to do anything to anyone,” Elizabeth Paige White, Gibson’s attorney, told the jury. She argued Gibson came face-to-face with a dangerous man who was armed and high on phencyclidine (PCP) – a hallucinogenic that can cause violent behavior. “Mr. Gibson is innocent,” she declared.
“He did what he was entitled to do under the law,” White continued, stating Gibson was only trying to go pick up his cousin when he ran into King.
White claimed King had a history of getting high and stabbing “innocent strangers for absolutely no reason – which is exactly what he was doing to Demonte Gibson that day.”
She highlighted multiple times where King was allegedly involved in stabbings, including an incident in which King allegedly approached a group of people playing cards in a public space and stabbed a man on the face, chest, and neck.
“That’s who Mr. Gibson came face-to-face with that day,” White insisted. Kevann Gardner, White’s co-counsel, showed the jury a knife recovered from King at the scene, which she deemed a “large butcher knife, that by design is meant to hurt or kill people and things.”
As for the investigation, she criticized MPD and the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for knowing King had been “running around injuring people,” and letting him remain in the community. “Self-defense never crossed their minds,” White claimed.
She further argued there was no conspiracy among the defendants, stating “[Gibson] didn’t plan to have to defend his own life. He was put in that position.”
She added that what happened to the surviving victim was “tragic,” but “the only reason bullets happened that day was because the decedent attacked Mr. Gibson and he had to defend himself.”
“He panicked and he ran,” White asserted.
Likewise, Neveen Hammad, Nelson’s attorney, argued Nelson was “at the wrong place, at the wrong time,” and “they had no reason to expect they’d come face-to-face with a man who was high on PCP and armed.”
“[King] posed danger to the people around him,” Hammad continued, urging the jury to pay attention to what the prosecution’s evidence doesn’t establish. She claimed the prosecution would ask the jury to fill holes with assumptions.
“Justice requires more than an accusation,” Hammad stated.
Susan Ellis, Forte’s attorney, stated he “sits here today an innocent man,” insisting he never possessed a firearm or shot at anyone. “There was no evidence anything was planned,” Ellis argued.
She stated the prosecution will fail to prove Forte’s involvement, other than by his presence near the scene.
Following opening statements, the prosecution called on King’s mother to testify. Prosecutors presented her with an image of King, to which she cried “that’s my son.” King’s mom stated she was notified of King’s PCP use and involvement in a stabbing by her sister after his death.
Prosecutors also called a then-Secret Service lieutenant, who was the first person to respond to the scene. According to the lieutenant, he was around the corner from the incident location canvassing in connection to an unrelated matter, when he heard the sounds of “automatic gunfire.”
He testified he saw a group of people run past him as he responded to the victim. The lieutenant stated he called for backup, with Secret Service Crime Scene Technicians responding to render aid to the victim.
He was questioned by the defense regarding the knife recovered from King at the scene, which was depicted in an image tied to a string. According to the lieutenant, the knife was recovered from King after the officers removed his clothing – it was tied to King’s torso.
An eyewitness stated she was walking north on 14th Street when she noticed two men coming towards her crossing the street. “They were walking together, conversing, and then they split,” the witness recalled, stating she felt “weirded out,” by the two individuals walking in front of her and behind her.
After a minute, the witness said, the one walking behind her passed her and reconvened with the one walking in front. She testified their pace quickened as they walked towards an individual, later identified as King.
“Something unexpected happened,” the witness claimed, stating one of the men pulled a gun out of their mid-area and waved it above his head back and forth. “My eyes went to that,” she stated, adding “I didn’t entirely know what to make of it.”
She stated the person the suspects later shot looked “like a normal everyday person,” and “he didn’t look back or anything. He was just walking.”
She further stated the individual waving his gun around shot at the victim. “I ducked behind a car because he kept firing,” she cried. She told the jury she couldn’t tell if the suspect was going to keep shooting the victim or go after bystanders.
Once the gunfire stopped, the witness stated, the shooters ran past her. She continued on with her day since the “cops responded really fast,” but later reported she had been a witness when she saw a “see something, say something” sign walking back to the Metro.
Due to time constraints, the witness was unable to conclude her testimony.
Parties are slated to reconvene Sept. 2.
