Murder Defendant Requests Jury Trial

By D.C. Witness Staff - August 20, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

On Aug. 20, a murder defendant pleaded not guilty and asserted his sixth amendment right to a speedy trial.

Jordan Smith is charged with first-degree murder while armed for the fatal shooting of Yashika Green on the 200 block of Wayne Place, SE in 2017.

Smith, 32, is also charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and illegal possession of a firearm with a prior conviction.

According to court documents, Green, 42, had been smoking cigarettes laced with PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, with Smith’s girlfriend in his apartment when he got into a verbal altercation with her.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department found Green unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Green was transported to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries four months later.

During an initial interview conducted by MPD detectives, Smith’s girlfriend said she neither knew nor remembered all of the facts leading up to the decedent being injured because she was under the influence of PCP.

During a second interview conducted by MPD detectives, Smith’s girlfriend said she pretended to be high in her initial interview to avoid answering the detectives’ questions because she was concerned for her safety. She said Smith has anger management issues and had been physically abusive to her in the past.

Two weeks after the altercation, MPD detectives interrogated Smith. According to court documents, Smith told police he smoked a significant amount of marijuana and had no recollection of the night of the shooting.

DC Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe set the trial date for Nov. 12, 2019.