Murder Defendant Didn’t Mean to Kill the Victim, Prosecutor Says

By D.C. Witness Staff - January 22, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Uncategorized | Victims |

During open statements of a murder trial Jan. 21, the prosecution told a jury that the murder defendant had no intention or want to kill the victim.

Marquette Tibbs is charged with first-degree murder while armed, conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, robbery while armed with a firearm and possesion of a firearm during a crime of violence. He allegedly shot and killed Orlando Silver III, 37, on the 1300 block of Howard Road, SE, in 2016.

According to the defense, Marquette Tibbs and Orlando Silver III knew each other prior to the incident. They were business partners, selling marijuana together. Tibbs asked Silver if he knew of anyone that wanted to trade guns. And, he did.

“Someone who sells marijuana has no reason to rob their supplier,” Prescott Loveland, an attorney for the defense said Jan. 21, during his opening statement in the trial. 

Silver gave Tibbs and Cinquan Cartledge, who is also being charged with the murder, his contact information and they arranged a time to meet.

At the meeting, there was a physical altercation between Tibbs and Silver’s associate when Tibbs decided that he did not want to proceed with the trade. During the physical altercation, the gun went off and recoiled, hitting Silver in his back and exiting through his abdomen.

“It sounded like a loud firecracker pow,” a witness who was near the scene said.

That witness was the first person to provide aid to Silver.

The witness said the gunshot was directly outside of her bedroom window and instantly got up to look. After going outside, the witness found Silver struggling to breath and holding his side. That’s when the witness frantically made the 911 call and officers of the seventh district were dispatched to the scene.

On the scene, police officers recovered one shell casing and Tibbs‘s fingerprints.

The prosecutor explained the homicide events step-by-step on Nov. 26, 2016.

During the time of the murder, Tibbs and Cartledge were both on GPS monitors. Based on their location, the GPS monitoring pinged them at the crime scene at that exact time.

Tibbs fled the scene. 

A Metropolitan Police Department patrol officer was one of the first to respond to the crime scene. Instead of pursuing the suspect, the officer stayed on scene to gather accounts from witnesses and to canvas the area. Witnesses provided the officer with a description of what the suspect was wearing from a witness at the crime scene.

According to Silver’s aunt, the victim had a heart condition. Therefore, he was issued a medical marijuana card.

A different officer, who was driving, spotted Tibbs in the same Helly Hansen jacket witnesses described him as wearing. The officer tried to make contact, however, once Tibbs saw the officer, he disposed of the gun and continued to run.

Instead of choosing to pursue Tibbs, the officer stayed with the gun so that he could recover the evidence.

A different officer apprehended Tibbs and he was later taken into custody. 

Tibbs trial is set to resume trial on Jan. 22.

Corrine Simon wrote this story