Judge Won’t Re-Open Preliminary Hearing for 3 Co-Defendants Charged With Murder

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A DC Superior Court judge denied a defense motion to reconsider re-opening a previous preliminary hearing that was held earlier this year to determine if a murder case has enough evidence to go to trial.

Nelfy Hernandez, 17, Deandre Levy, 20, and Trey Prillerman, 17, are charged with first-degree murder while armed in the death of 17-year-old Taijhon Wyatt, Jr. on the 5500 block of 9th Street, NW, on Aug. 10, 2020. The three are accused of shooting into a crowd of juveniles from inside of a vehicle.

The defense wanted to re-open the preliminary hearing so they could call a detective who did not testify when the hearing was held back in March.

Judge Danya Dayson denied this request in favor of moving towards setting a trial date. She cited a limit in courtroom availability.

Judge Dayson did grant the defense’s request to receive surveillance footage of the defendants from the night of the homicide. The defense is able to share the transcripts of the videos with their clients, but the defendants are not able to view the video itself.

A felony status conference for the three defendants is scheduled for Oct. 1.

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