A homicide victim’s son testified in trial before DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan on Nov. 4.
Tywan Morris, 30, is charged with second-degree murder while armed, carrying a dangerous weapon outside a home or business, and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 27-year-old Danielle Stuckey on Oct. 17, 2021, on the 2800 block of Alabama Avenue, SE.
Stuckey’s son was with his mother the day she was killed, and gave testimony about witnessing the stabbing.
On the day of his mother’s death, the witness was only 12 -years-old, living with his mother and two younger siblings. He had accompanied Stuckey to the Safeway, to get groceries for dinner, before walking over to the BP gas station across the street to talk with some of his mother’s friends.
The witness remembered his mother talking to someone near a gas pump and began to get agitated, because his mom, “saw a person she did not like”.
The witness continued, stating that the person his mother was talking to was known as ‘Chucky’, who he later identified as Morris.
The argument continued to escalate, with involvement from Morris’ prior codefendant Keyjuana Sinclair, 28. Sinclair was convicted and sentenced to 12 months of incarceration for her involvement in Stuckey’s death. According to Stuckey’s son, Sinclair was antagonizing his mother, “getting [his] mother heated more”.
The witness testified he saw Sinclair pull a knife out of her car, which he later described as a silver brass knuckles knife. Eventually, Sinclair gave Morris the knife, who then allegedly stabbed Stuckey.
“She was standing, then she fell,” the witness said, adding “she was stabbed”. Before the stabbing occurred, Stuckey’s son testified he took a blue cooler and hit the perpetrator on the back of the head with it, trying to defend his mother.
After running inside the store to call 911, the son came back outside and “saw [his] mother in a pool of blood”. Prosecutors played clips depicting the witness talking with Metropolitan Police Officers (MPD) once they arrived on scene. Despite the witness being understandably “extremely sad” when he was being questioned by police, the witness was able to provide a description of the suspect.
The witness described the perpetrator as a “Black male, with lots of tattoos, and kind of chunky”. He also described the car he saw Morris and Sinclair allegedly drive away in as a Green Nissan SUV with a rack on top of the car.
Defense attorney Steven Kiersh asked if Stuckey approached Morris first in their altercation, which the witness confirmed that she had.
Several officers and forensic experts also took the stand. Notably, the forensic pathologist who had done Stuckey’s autopsy testified that she had been stabbed once in the left thigh. The one-and-a-quarter inch wound had irregularities along the edges of the wound, which she explained meant the blade had likely been rotated or twisted. Photographs of the wound were shown to the jury to demonstrate the size and appearance of the wound.
During the autopsy, she investigated the wound path and found that the wound went through the skin and soft tissue and into the skeletal tissue. The weapon had struck the left femoral artery and femoral vein. The pathologist described that she found “transection of the femoral artery and femoral vein”, which would have caused Stuckey to bleed to death.
In cross-examining the doctor, Kiersh asked if Stuckey would have survived had she received faster medical treatment. The pathologist answered, “She could have survived if she hadn’t been stabbed at all.”
When Kiersh continued to push in the same line of questioning, she said that Stuckey would have bled out in “seconds to minutes” and could not confidently say if she would have survived.
The pathologist also testified that she had sent specimens to be tested by a toxicologist.
Of the total samples sent, the blood and vitreous humor taken during the autopsy were tested. Vitreous humor, the doctor explained, is the fluid taken from the eyes, which is tested to determine the level of alcohol in the body at the time of death. While blood is the best “snapshot of what’s going on the body at the time of death,” the eyes are protected from the bacteria that also produce ethanol during decomposition, unlike the blood. Ethanol is a volatile compound that is also found in drinkable alcohol.
He compared the concentration of alcohol in the blood and vitreous fluid to a roller coaster: when the concentration in the blood is higher, it is the first car arriving to the peak of a drop on a roller coaster. When the concentration in the vitreous humor is higher, it is the last car hitting the peak of the drop, when the rest of the body is already on its way down from the effects of alcohol.
The doctor testified that Stuckey’s level was found at .10 on a scale very similar to blood alcohol content (BAC). Though symptoms vary from person to person and he is unaware of Stuckey’s personal tolerance for alcohol, he said it was likely that she was experiencing depressive symptoms both cognitively and with coordination. These symptoms may have included loss of coordination and slurred speech.
Kiersh pointed out that she may have been agitated due to her alcohol level, pointing out that it was above the legal limit in DC, which is .08. The doctor agreed it was possible, but reminded the defense that he does not know Stuckey’s personal drinking history.
An MPD detective concluded testimony previously started on Nov. 4 by discussing crime scene photos taken on the day of the incident. The detective was shown pictures of the sidewalk where Stuckey was found, which was spattered with blood from the stabbing.
A forensic scientist testified to having taken pictures of the vehicle associated with the incident, and noted that there was blood found on the outside of the vehicle which was swabbed for DNA testing.
A forensic biology analyst testified that this sample had been tested and came back positive for blood according to a presumptive test, which is a test that gives an indication that the bodily fluid is present but cannot confirm that it is. It was sent for confirmatory testing alongside samples taken from some pieces of clothing.
Parties are slated to reconvene Nov. 6.
