During a Feb. 11 motion hearing, a judge ruled against the defense’s request to release a murder defendant.
Deon Crowell, 50, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing Joni Rockingham, 53, on the 300 block of 34th Street, NE on Dec. 12, 2017. Police discovered Rockingham in the River Terrace neighborhood unconscious and unresponsive among several garbage bins with dirt on top of her.
DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson ruled that Crowell’s release from DC Jail would not be appropriate.
Judge Dayson also ruled on a motion to dismiss the case for failure to preserve evidence. The judge said she denied the motion, in part and granted it in part. It is not clear what was granted.
Crowell’s defense attorney, Elizabeth Weller, filed the motion because she said ten or more clips from the crime scene in the 2017 murder had been deleted or gone missing.
“I’m blown away that anyone couldn’t see that there’s value in that,” Weller said.
A status hearing is scheduled for May 8.
Written by Wyatt Mullins and Corrine Simon
