The prosecution showed surveillance footage said to capture a homicide defendant on route to the Ogden Market, A local food store, prior to a homicide there during a hearing on June 4.
Alvin-Alexis Cruz-Garcia, 24, is charged with second-degree murder while armed with a shod foot for his alleged involvement in the murder of 38-year-old Ramon Gomez-Yanez on March 23, 2021 on the 1500 block of Ogden Street, NW.
According to a release from the DC US Attorneys Office, “[T]he defendant was standing on the sidewalk and urinating much too close to the back of Mr. Gomez’s car.” That, says the release, triggered an altercation that led to a fatal beating.
The trial continued, before DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman, with testimony from prosecution witnesses.
A detective from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) identified the defendant in the courtroom as the suspect, and described his arrest process on June 7, 2022. According to the detective, he obtained the suspect’s phone number from Cruz-Garcia’s mother and collected surveillance footage from the Ogden Market.
The detective highlighted that the suspect was seen wearing a red Washington Nationals baseball cap, red and white shoes, and holding a black bag which was used to identify him throughout the various surveillance videos.
Prosecutors also called on the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia at time of the incident, who performed the autopsy on Gomez-Yanez on March 24, 2021.
According to the medical examiner, cause of death was recorded as blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Injury findings included external damage to the face and head including bleeding in his left eye and a laceration of his lip, bruising of the scalp, fractures on the head, and a torn vessel at the victim’s neck.
The most significant injury suffered by the victim was noted as the torn vessel at the victim’s neck. The medical examiner stated that with scalp and head injuries, the victim was likely rendered unconscious and his death would have followed within minutes.
Manner of death was ruled a homicide given the number of blows, scraps, and fractures seen on the victim’s body.
Cause of death was not recorded until June 2021, about three months after the autopsy. Cruz-Garcia’s defense attorney, Julie Swaney, questioned why it took so long to which the witness explained that the time-frame for determining cause of death varies. In this case, a backlog of remaining Covid cases caused some delay in the office.
Swaney also noted the witness’ consultation with a forensic anthropologist at the Department of Forensic Sciences the day after the autopsy. The witness stated her colleague’s findings on the victim’s upper jaw and nasal bones confirmed the cause of death and the witness’s understanding that this blunt force trauma was not caused by a fist.
Swaney reviewed the toxicology report, which came back at 0.29 blood alcohol concentration (BAC), as potentially contributing to the severity of injury leading to death. The legal limit BAC limit in DC is .08.
The victim’s intoxication was not noted as contributing to his cause of death. The witness clarified that she cannot speak to the effect that alcohol would have had on Gomez-Yanez as response differs by the individual.
The witness further clarified that the concentration of significant injuries to the head and neck indicates a fall was unlikely, instead suggesting kicking or a use of an instrument as more likely.
A fingerprint analyst received 18 prints for examination, this involving comparison of prints from the crime scene to known prints of the defendant and victim on record. The analyst determined that three prints allegedly belonged to the defendant and four prints belonged to the victim.
The witness emphasized the importance of both the quality and quantity of prints for making and verifying matches. While responding to Swaney’s questioning, he noted that the prints found on scene were highly-detailed.
Swaney pressed the witness about the identification of a smeared print and commented that the witness was not present during the print collection process.
The witness was additionally questioned about the potential for print misidentification due to the presence of shared pattern types among individuals and no standard criteria for an identification to be verified.
In her questioning of a crime scene investigator, Swaney made it clear that the witness, to her knowledge, did not see the victim in his initial position after the homicide. The witness confirmed that EMT and several police officers were at the scene prior to her arrival.
The mother of the defendant was also called to the stand. She recounted speaking with police and detectives on separate occasions in May 2021 where she was shown Metro surveillance footage of Cruz-Garcia on the day of the incident. At the prosecution’s request, the witness verified the identity of the defendant in this footage in her testimony. The witness also testified that at the time of the conversations in May 2021, the defendant was not in the DC area.
The witness indicated she was familiar with the location where Gomez-Yanez was killed, noting she once lived near the address.
Parties are slated to reconvene June 5.
