Kelby Gordon Guilty of Murdering FBI Building Janitor

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 24, 2018
Court | Featured | Homicides | Suspects |

Kelby Gordon was found guilty July 23 of murdering Gabriel Carlos Turner. 

After two days of deliberation, a jury convicted Gordon, 32, of second-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed and related firearm offenses.

The shooting occurred on the 2600 block of Birney Place, SE. Gordon was charged with first-degree murder while armed in 2016.

On the morning of July 9, the prosecution delivered their opening statements, telling the jury that  evidence, including shell casings and Turner’s sweatshirt and wallet, would show that Gordon accidently shot Turner while trying to rob an unnamed individual.

The prosecution told the jury that Turner, who just had breakfast with his mother, was making his way to a bus stop when he was shot in the back. “He didn’t see it coming” the lawyer said. “One shot, that was all it took and he immediately fell to the ground.”

According to the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the bullet traveled from Turner’s back to his head.

The prosecution also provided a compilation of surveillance footage that showed the shooter chasing an unnamed suspect and shooting Turner. The video shows both Turner and the unnamed individual ducking to avoid the bullet.

The individual believed to be the shooter is seen by multiple surveillance cameras running to a nearby apartment complex.

The prosecution’s first witness was a Metropolitan Police Department detective who was working undercover on the block where Turner was shot. The officer identified Gordon and also provided video footage she secured during her assignment, of Gordon, whom she knew as “Milly.”

The prosecution’s next witness was the defendant’s ex-girlfriend who lived in proximity to the shooting. She said Gordon told her he killed Turner. “He tried to rob someone and it went wrong,” she said. “He saw someone with cash and wanted to take it.”

The jury also heard from a cooperating witness who is awaiting sentencing for a second-degree murder that he committed in 2013.

According to the witness, Gordon told him that he was in his friend’s car when he saw someone with some money and pulled out his gun to go steal it. The witness said Gordon said he saw the unnamed individual reach for a gun. 

This was not a case of mistaken identity. The witness testimonies and the evidence align perfectly, the prosecution said. “The path that law enforcement took, led them straight to the defendant.”

The defense told the jury that there is inadequate evidence to convict Gordon of murder. He said there is no DNA evidence that would tie Gordon to the murder, emphasizing that there were no fingerprints, no “touch DNA” and the murder weapon wasn’t discovered. 

Defense Attorney Richard Holliday said the prosecution’s case relied on two witnesses, one who fabricated a story to get a lesser sentence and the other who fabricated a story to receive witness protection benefits.

The defense argued that the unnamed individual, whom Gordon was attempting to rob, also had a firearm and could have killed Turner.

Holliday told the jury that throughout the entire trial, there was no forensic evidence that tied Gordon to Turner’s shooting.  Although the video that the prosecution provided clearly shows a video of two shooters, “you will never know conclusively who shot the fatal shot,” he said.

Gordon is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21.