A medical examiner testified about the extent of a homicide victim’s injuries before DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on June 11.
Daniel Chapman, 37, is charged with second-degree murder while armed and carrying a dangerous weapon outside a home or business for his alleged involvement in the stabbing of 43-year-old Antoine Ealey. The incident occurred on July 22, 2023, on the 2300 Block of L’Enfant Square, SE.
The prosecution called on the medical examiner who said Ealey sustained five external injuries, including a two inch deep, three inch wide gaping stab wound on the left shoulder.
The witness detailed that the shoulder wound had cut through several blood vessels and punctured the top of the left lung, ultimately causing the victim’s death. The autopsy located blood in the chest cavity ultiamtely determining manner of death was homicide.
A toxicologist toxicology report found PCP and K2, a synthetic cannabinoid, was in Ealey’s blood and that PCP could distort reality in a way that might cause violence but not necessarily from taking it.
Another witness who reviewed Ealy’s autopsy. testified that the second rib on Ealy’s left side was fractured due to sharp force trauma.
The witness also stated that the knife used in the stabbing would not have had serrated edges due to the lack of chipping and marks on the rib bone. The prosecution showed the knife that was allegedly used during the incident and asked the witness if a knife like this could have been used in this scenario. The witness stated that he could not rule it out.
The prosecution also showed the CCTV surveillance footage of the incident. In the video, provided by a witness from the United States Attorney’s office, an individual in a red shirt walking down an alleyway was visible. Shortly after, a group of four individuals was seen exiting an apartment building on Pennsylvania Avenue, and walking down the same alley in the same direction as the man in a red shirt. The group of individuals eventually stop at the end of the alley near a back parking lot of a car wash.
The man in red, who was also at the end of the alley, sees the group of four individuals and begins to interact with them. Eventually, the man in red comes closer to the group and an individual in a polka dot shirt begins to interact with the man in red.
After a couple of seconds of face- to-face interaction, both individuals briefly begin to kick each other’s legs. After, the man in the red walks away toward the end of the alley, the man in the polka dot shirt follows him and they both begin to fight. After a couple of seconds, the man in red runs away and out of line of the camera view.
The participants shown in the melee were not immediately identified.
Parties are slated to reconvene June 16.
