A homicide suspect’s attorney rejected a plea deal from prosecutors and requested evidence withheld by the prosecution in his case on June 5 in DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park’s courtroom.
Tyquan Jennings, 27, is charged with second-degree murder while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business, for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Vonte Martin on the 3000 block of Stanton Road, SE, on Aug. 19, 2024. Martin sustained three shots and an additional victim sustained a gunshot wound to the right shin.
In a prior hearing on May 15, Jennings’ attorney, Nathaniel Mensah, asked for more time to review the plea deal. The deal the prosecution offered would have required Jennings to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter while all remaining charges would be dismissed.
After Jennings rejected the deal, parties scheduled his trial for April 5, 2027.
In addition to the plea deal rejection, parties also discussed certain grand jury transcripts that Mensah said the prosecution was unwilling to share with the defense.
Judge Park asked the prosecution to file their argument for not sharing these transcripts by Oct. 2. The defense will write and submit their response two weeks later before parties reconvene for Judge Park’s ruling as to whether these documents must be turned over to the defense.
Similarly, Mensah also asked the judge to order the prosecution to disclose the identities of certain witnesses in accordance with statutory requirements that require the prosecution to share evidence that might favor the defendant.
Mensah said the defense previously demonstrated that these witnesses may qualify as favorable to Jennings. The prosecution argued that Jennings knows all of the witnesses and can provide this information to the defense. The prosecution said they were hesitant however to disclose these names to the public as they feared it might threaten witnesses’ safety.
Parties are set to reconvene on Oct. 23.
