Judge Continues Hearing for Defendants Charged with 11 Year Old’s Death

By D.C. Witness Staff - September 30, 2020
Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge continued a hearing for four co-defendants charged with the murder of an 11-year-old boy.

Carlo General, Christen Wingfield, Marcel Gordon and Dayle Bond are all charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection to the shooting of 11-year-old Davon McNeal. The shooting occurred on July 4 on the 1400 block of Cedar Street, SE.

Sept. 30 marked the start of a hearing to determine if there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. It comes just under one month after Gordon turned himself in. He was the last of the four suspects apprehended by police.

Before cross examination began, Judge Kravitz asked the prosecution why the defendants were guilty of first-degree murder.

“The defendants were firing at what they thought to be a rival gang member,” said the prosecutor. “the defendants ran down an alley trying to find somebody, all of the defendants are acting as one.”

A Metropolitan Police Department detective was called to the stand to testify about the case. However, even though the detective is working on the case, he was not the lead detective nor did he write the affidavit on the department’s initial investigation. The defense objected to the detective testifying.

“How can the detective adopt those statements if he doesn’t have first-hand knowledge,” said James King, one of the defense attorneys on the case.

Judge Neal Kravitz also questioned the prosecution’s decision to call this specific witness, rather than the case’s lead detective, who wrote the affidavit. 

The prosecution said the detective has extensive knowledge of the case and was personally responsible for obtaining and examining the surveillance footage. 

One of the prosecution’s supervisors was also on the line. She said they chose this specific detective because of his role in obtaining the video footage, which will be used to rebut any claims of self defense from the defendants.  

During the examination, the detective identified all of the defendants by pictures on their Instagram accounts. They were later identified at a cookout using video footage in the neighborhood where the shooting took place. 

In one of the videos, the witness identified General, 20, was seen carrying a gun with muzzle flashes appearing on the screen. Bond, 19, was also identified by the witness firing a gun near a playground. 

Several videos showed five men running in the neighborhood with firearms in their hands. The detective said he believes four of the men on the video are the defendants in this case, with one man still unidentified. 

A map was then shared, which showed where shell casings were found around the neighborhood. 

“The casings came from five different guns,” said the detective.

King was the first attorney to cross-examine the detective. However, he was cut short due to time constraints. 

Judge Kravitz asked the detective to review all Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage before the hearing resumes to avoid any recess during the hearing.

The preliminary hearing is set to resume on Oct. 1.

This article was written by Saif Habboub