Judge Finds Probable Cause in Murder Case, Holds Defendant

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 15, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects |

A DC Superior Court judge ruled that a murder case has enough evidence to go to trial and held the defendant at DC Jail. 

Jacobi Williams, 34, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 38-year-old Phillip Roache on the 7000 block of Blair Road, NW on Sept. 17. 

Judge Juliet McKenna ruled that the case had probable cause, citing footage from multiple surveillance cameras at the scene that captured the shooting as well as Williams’ car, which was less than a block from the scene. 

During the Dec. 15 hearing, the prosecutor showed surveillance footage from the gas station where the shooting occurred and from a convenience store that Williams visited before the shooting, along with several photographs of Williams’ car and items recovered from the car. 

The lead  Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective on the case said surveillance footage from the scene shows a man wearing a black hoodie, light colored two-toned shoes, black pants with an emblem near the left thigh and two light colored bracelets on each of his wrists. 

She described the path the man took around the corner of the gas station before walking up to the victim while he pumped gas into his car. When the man walked up to the victim, he pulled out a silver pistol and began firing it at the victim.

Then, the man can be seen walking back to the gas station, entering the victim’s car and leaving the scene. 

A grey Mitsubishi was found near the crime scene when responding officers canvassed the area. The detective explained that when an officer went down the street, he noticed that only one of the parked cars had no raindrops on the windshield. The detective testified that it was raining on the night of the incident and the absence of water on the windshield indicated that the car had been used recently.

Photographs of the grey car’s contents showed two receipts from Pizza Hut and a 7-Eleven in Waldorf, Md., along with a large drink purchased at the 7-Eleven. According to the detective’s testimony, DNA matching Williams was found on both the receipts and drink. The tags on the grey car also came back to Williams; however, they did not match that specific grey Mitsubishi. 

The prosecutor also showed surveillance footage from the 7-Eleven store in Waldorf. According to the detective’s testimony, the defendant could be seen walking into the store with similar black pants with a white emblem on the left thigh and similar light-colored two-toned shoes. While she acknowledged that Williams was not wearing the black hoodie, he was wearing two light-colored wrist bands in the 7-Eleven. 

During cross-examination, defense attorney Marnitta King asked the detective if she knew about the other person who was injured in the shooting. The detective said, the other victim was on the bottom floor of an apartment across the street from the gas station and was grazed by a bullet. 

King also asked the detective if she had seen the facial features of the man who shot the victim from the surveillance footage. According to the detective’s testimony, she had not seen the facial features of the shooter but was able to see the man’s complexion. She said the shooter’s complexion was of a light shade and matched the complexion of the defendant. 

King argued that there was clearly a shooting, but the only description of the shooter comes from his clothing, which isn’t identical to the clothes that Williams can be seen wearing hours before the murder. She said all of the prosecutor’s information is from second-hand sources and not a single eyewitness identified the shooter as Williams. 

After Judge McKenna found probable cause, King requested her client’s release into the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP). She argued that Williams is clearly not a danger to the community, pointing out how he is attending classes at the University of the District of Columbia, maintaining employment and caring for his family. 

The prosecutor asked Judge McKenna to hold Williams, arguing that Williams has a lengthy criminal record, including an assault with a dangerous weapon charge, for which the defendant was on pretrial release at the time of the shooting. Additionally, Williams was convicted of an attempt to elude police charge from Prince Georges County, MD., which he was on probation for until the probation was terminated as unsuccessful. 

“I am not prepared to release him due to his substantial criminal history, with a pending case that involves a firearm,” said Judge McKenna. 

Williams’ next hearing is scheduled for June 2. 

John Sullivan wrote this article