Video footage of the fatal shooting of Christopher Heard led police to identify and arrest two suspects.
Heard was found dead in the early morning of April 27 in a parking lot on 2307 Ainger Pl., SE. According to an autopsy, Heard died from gunshot wounds to his chest. He was also shot in the leg.
Heard’s neighbors called police when they heard gunshots and found Heard outside, unconscious. Heard’s neighbors told the police the incident was most likely drug-related since he had been known to use and sell PCP.
Video footage of the parking lot where the shooting occurred was used to identify Nyekemia Everett, who allegedly pulled the trigger. According to a woman who was close to the suspects and was present as the incident unravelled, the murder of Heard was a robbery gone wrong. It was this woman, too, who ultimately identified Malik Hewitt, also known as “Pencil,” as the second suspect.
The woman says on the morning of the murder she, along with Everett and Hewitt, followed Heard to his residence in Woodland Terrace. The woman said Everett had mentioned the previous day he was low on money, to which Hewitt suggested they rob Heard of his income, a result of his dealings in drugs.
Once they arrived to the parking lot outside of Heard’s residence, Hewitt called the victim on the phone, using a fake voice, to put in place a drug deal. Heard did not initially show, and so the three left the scene and returned several hours later. Upon their return to the parking lot, the woman was asked to this time make the phone call to Heard, to which he told them to wait between two cars in the parking lot. The video footage shows Everett and the woman exiting the car to wait for Heard while Hewitt remains in the car and takes over the driver’s seat.
As Heard approached, the woman told police it was obvious he was high on PCP. Everett walked toward Heard and pulled out a gun from his waistline, pointing it at the victim. According to the woman, when Heard charged at Everett to take the gun Everett pulled the trigger, twice. She and Everett fled to the car, which Hewitt had pulled around closer to make for an easier get-away.
This was not the woman’s first testimony, as she was not initially forthcoming in order to protect Everett, who she described as her boyfriend. In the original testimony she suggested Everett shot Heard out of self-defense after a verbal and physical altercation, which she later admitted not to be true. She also originally failed to mention that the drug-deal was a facade for robbery.
Following the murder, the woman says Hewitt showed no remorse for the shooting of Heard, but rather relief that they had not followed through with a different plan. While she and Everett slept in the car with the gun fully exposed, Hewitt drove them past the scene of the crime as police arrived, and then proceeded to purchase a coffee from a 7/11.
