Judge Finds Probable Cause in Homicide Case

By D.C. Witness Staff - April 28, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge ruled that a murder case has enough evidence to go to trial. 

Co-defendants Delonta Stevenson, 26, and Vorreze Thomas, 23, are both charged with first-degree murder while armed in the death of 32-year-old Terrence Allen on Jan. 18, on the 3000 block of Stanton Road, SE. Stevenson and Thomas allegedly cut Allen off in a vehicle before shooting close to 50 rounds at Allen’s car, D.C. Witness previously reported.

During the April 28 hearing, Judge Juliet McKenna said she based her finding of probable cause primarily on the video surveillance and the testimony of a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective on the case.

When the hearing began on April 26, the prosecutor showed surveillance footage of two people alleged to be the co-defendants leaving an apartment complex and entering a brown Volvo that looks consistent with the car involved in the shooting.

During closing arguments, Joseph Wong, Thomas’ attorney, argued that the clothes his client is wearing in surveillance footage of the incident was not distinctive enough that it can be determined to match clothing police found while executing a search warrant of his home. He also pointed out that no witnesses identified Thomas as the car’s driver.

Defense attorney Elizabeth Weller argued that there was no forensic, fingerprints, or location data that can point Stevenson, her client, to the crime. She argued that one of the prosecution’s witnesses is unreliable since their testimony does not support the video surveillance.

Although Wong and Weller asked Judge McKenna to release their clients, the judge decided that Stevenson and Thomas should remain held to ensure the public’s safety.

The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 4. 

Sarah Gebrengus wrote this article.