Judge Says Prosecution’s Case is Strong, Finds Probable Cause for Homicide

By D.C. Witness Staff - April 8, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge ruled that a homicide case has enough evidence to go to trial and said it is more likely than not that a jury would find the defendant guilty.

On Jan. 25, Edward Wade, 22, was found unconscious on the 1400 block of Good Hope Road, SE suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Three additional victims and the defendant sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Terrance Oxner, 22, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection with Wade’s death.

During the two-day preliminary hearing, a prosecutor argued that surveillance footage and witness reports put the defendant at the scene of the crime.

According to the prosecutor, additional evidence also placed Oxner at the scene, including a stolen phone in Oxner’s possession and video footage from the scene that allegedly shows Oxner removing the front license plate of the car he was in, which was also stolen.

Additionally, the prosecution argued that the footage not only places Oxner at the crime scene during the shooting, but also near it before and after the shooting with the same shoes, pants and hoodie he was wearing when he checked himself into a hospital to get medical care for the wounds he sustained.

The prosecution also alleged that the defendant wore a stolen jacket that was seen in the footage.

However, defense attorney Madalyn Harvey argued that the suspect’s face in the footage is indiscernible.

Harvey also said multiple people in the video had access to the jacket that is reportedly seen in the video, and the prosecution could not prove that the individual seen in the video footage was her client.

She also said that one of the other victims was arrested in another unrelated weapons charge and is a person of interest in this case.

Although Harvey requested home confinement or GPS monitoring due to her client’s health concerns, Judge Neal Kravitz said he could not find electronic monitoring to be enough to protect the community. 

The next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 18.

Aaron Adgerson, 17, is also charged with first-degree murder while armed in Wade’s death. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 14.