Judge Finds Substantial Probability Despite Lack of Positive ID

By D.C. Witness Staff - October 22, 2018
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

During a preliminary hearing Oct. 19, a DC Superior Court judge found substantial probability that a defendant could have fatally shot a man in July.

Kewon Hunter is charged with second-degree murder while armed for shooting 21-year-old Dion Boyd on the 1400 block of Maryland Avenue, NE.

Judge Craig Iscoe said that the individual seen running after the shooting in the videos appeared to be the defendant. 

According to court documents, Hunter, 19, allegedly approached the decedent, pulled out a gun and shot Boyd three times. Prior to the shooting, an unknown individual was captured on surveillance video, giving an object to Hunter. The video shows the defendant attempting to conceal an object near his waistband.

“We have different pieces, but those pieces aren’t being put together by someone who can give facial recognition,” Howard McEachern, Hunter’s defense attorney, said, noting that other items the prosecution procured for evidence were irrelevant because no one can clearly identify Hunter in the video.

However, the prosecution insisted that the figure in the video was Hunter. “Everything leading up to it and after it corroborate this defendant as the shooter,” the prosecutor said.

Judge Iscoe ordered Hunter held without bond and noted that the defendant is also being held for an unrelated armed burglary charge. 

A felony status conference is scheduled on Jan. 25, 2019.