Murder Suspect Says She Feared Sexual Abuse in Drug Treatment That ‘Failed Her’

By Elizabeth Brady - October 24, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Sexual Assault | Shooting | Victims |

DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan issued an order for a murder defendant to be released to another bed-to-bed drug treatment program after the defendant’s previous experience potentially led to sexual assault allegations, on Oct. 23. 

Vanessa Bonaparte, 32, is charged with second-degree murder for her alleged involvement in the death of 31-year-old Dwayne Boyd, which occurred on June 22 on the 3500 block of East Capitol Street, SE.

According to court documents, the defendant was previously put on release to seek treatment with the Regional Addiction Prevention (RAP) program, a mandatory, in-patient, bed-to-bed drug treatment program, but was discharged due to “problematic behavior.”

During Bonaparte’s release in late June, she regularly tested positive for synthetic cannabinoids, according to Judge Raffinan. The most recent report made by a representative from the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) stated that Bonaparte had failed to report and tested positive for amphetamines. 

The prosecution argued that Bonaparte has violated the conditions of her release and, given the magnitude of noncompliance, Bonaparte will likely not comply in the future. They requested her release be revoked. 

Defense attorney Kevann Gardner argued that there were unique circumstances that led to the series of events. 

According to Gardner, while institutionsalized with RAP, an employee allegedly made inappropriate remarks toward Bonaparte, stating that “she’s never going to make it through the RAP program.” Gardner added that the employee allegedly continued to try to force Bonaparte out of her room while she was naked, and she felt that she was going to be sexually abused in the moment and the future.

Gardner told Judge Raffinan that Bonaparte told other RAP employees and her PSA agent, but no actions, except a suggestion to file a police report, were taken. 

While in the program, she was unable to dial 911. After threatening legal action, RAP insisted Bonaparte sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and after her refusal, the defendant was asked to leave, according to Gardner. 

Gardner informed the court that this was the reason for her recent illicit substance positive test as well as failure to report to PSA, stating “PSA and RAP failed her.” He asserted that Bonaparte did not feel safe enough to report back to PSA.

The defendant’s pretrial services agent said Bonaparte didn’t go into details with him on the incident, although he did make note of it in his records. He recalled she had said “something sexually inappropriate” happened, but he took no further actions as it was the responsibility of the defense attorney.

According to the agent, RAP claimed she was discharged due to being “very disrespectful to staff and clients.” 

The agent told Judge Raffinan that RAP provided no details of the alleged incident, but disclosed that Bonaparte was discharged due to her refusal to sign a behavioral contract that would enable her to continue with the program.

Judge Raffinan concluded that the core issue for all the defendant’s prior actions was her substance abuse, noting that RAP was not successful. 

The judge issued an order for Bonaparte to be released to bed-to-bed treatment with another court-adjoined drug program, screening to determine eligibility.  

The prosecution assured the court they would be issuing a subpoena to RAP and vowed to investigate the allegations further.

The parties are set to reconvene on Nov. 6.