Jury Out for Deliberation in Double Homicide Trial

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On June 25, counsel tasked jurors with addressing a double homicide trial as a puzzle to determine innocence or guilt.

Beysean Jones, 29, is charged with first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed for his alleged involvement in the shootings of Ronald Brown, 19, and Tijuan Wilson, 41. The incident occurred on July 27, 2022, on the 4300 block of 4th Street, SE. Wilson’s wife sustained gunshot wounds during the incident but survived.

The prosecution gave their closing argument by addressing how each piece of evidence presented during the trial fit into a puzzle depicting how and why Jones allegedly committed these crimes.

“This is a classic circumstantial case,” the prosecutor argued. She told the jury that they should give “equal weight” to the circumstantial evidence as they would direct evidence.

The prosecution began by addressing the June 22, 2022, incident between Brown and Jones. “We do know, without a doubt, that they had a confrontation that day,” she stated.

After the confrontation, the prosecutor alleged that Brown waited for and targeted Jones at his home. She showed the shell casings from the shootout, proposing that Brown started shooting at Jones.

She said Jones shot back at Brown to explain why police found two different shell casings at the scene.

The same shell casings that were found from the shootout on June 22, 2022, were consistent with the gun that was found on Brown after he was killed during the July 27, 2022 shootout.

According to the prosecution, Jones believed Brown had shot at him on June 22, 2022, and thus deliberately targeted Brown a little over a month later.

“There should be no doubt in your mind that Beysean Jones caused the death of Tijuan Wilson and Ronald Brown,” the prosecutor said.

Carrie Weletz, lead attorney for Jones, began her closing statement by pointing out numerous “holes” and “missing puzzle pieces” within the story that the prosecution presented.

Weletz, drawing on witness testimony, reminded the jury that the location of the homicide was a densely populated area that experienced high rates of crime.

She referenced that Jones’ wife had testified to the common occurrence of hearing gunshots within the neighborhood, and a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer stated that they are called to the area almost daily.

Weletz responded to eyewitness testimony from the July 22, 2022 shooting, informing the jury that two eyewitnesses “could not see anything” about the shooters including what kind of guns the shooters were using. The one eyewitness who said they were able to see a shooter could not see anything identifiable about them, she said.

Weletz, referring to the prosecution’s own ballistic evidence, stated that “the evidence shows the people in the Kia are holding guns.” Casings were found near the Kia and bullet hole damage to vehicles in between the shooter’s vehicle, a dark Honda, and the Kia.

Casings for seven different weapons were recovered from the crime scene, yet Weletz said the prosecution in their “entire case, in [their] four-and-a-half day case, only one gun [had] been presented.” It was the gun that the prosecution claimed had not even been fired the night of July 27, 2022, she said.

Weletz argued that there were at least seven weapons and that other individuals were also armed due to evidence presented by the prosecution, so they didn’t know who actually shot Brown.

“We don’t know” was a common phrase Weletz used in response to what she deemed questions the prosecution needed to answer to meet their burden of proof.

Weletz urged the jury to truly look at what the evidence actually showed instead of the “leaps of logic” that the prosecution was trying to state as fact from the evidence.

When examining the video footage prior to and during the July 27, 2022 shooting, Weletz stated that jury members could see that Brown had been the aggressor both in front of the smoke shop and when shooting at Jones’ home.

Weletz told the jury that they “get to put the puzzle together, and [they would] see that the puzzle doesn’t make sense.” She urged the jury to return with a not guilty verdict.

“She’s trying to confuse you,” the prosecution told the jury during rebuttal, referring to the narrative defense attorney Weletz presented.

The “evidence may be complicated, but the heart of this case is simple,” the prosecution stated, “that’s how these cases work, they build and build.”

The jury began deliberating on Tuesday.

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