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Prosecution impeaches witness’ testimony in 2014 murder trial

The prosecution recently impeached the testimony of James Young’s neighbor during a murder trial.

Young and Tyrone Height have been charged with first-degree murder while armed for shooting Willard Carlos Shelton on the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road, SE on Aug. 31, 2014.

Young’s neighbor repeatedly told the prosecution March 19 that she didn’t remember specific events, including Young, 24, and Height, 25, forcing their way into her apartment.

Instead, the neighbor told the jury that she thought of Young as her son and didn’t want him to get into trouble.

According to court documents, the neighbor previously told the grand jury that she told the men she was angry with them for kicking her door in.

Metropolitan Police Department documents stated that a gun was found in the neighbor’s apartment, but the neighbor told the jury that she had no idea it was there. However, the prosecution noted an earlier testimony where the neighbor told the grand jury that she had a conversation with Young about a gun he left in her apartment.

In addition to the neighbor, the prosecution also showed videos of Young speaking with his brother while detained at the D.C. Department of Corrections.

In the videos, Young directed his brother to threaten a potential witness’ boyfriend on Facebook, so the witness would not testify.

The trial is expected to continue on March 20.

Judge finds defendant had probable cause in girlfriend’s homicide

Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe recently ruled there was probable cause for 49-year-old Bernadette King‘s boyfriend to murder her.

Judge Iscoe said March 15 there was probable cause with substantial probability that Tylor, 41, committed the murder because he gave the Metropolitan Police Department’s investigating detective contradictory statements among other defensive behaviors and words as they began their investigation.

The Judge said probability was also shown because there was no sign of forced entry to the apartment. Witnesses told the police that they did not hear any barking from the dogs owned by the decedent and the defendant.

The judge also said it looked coincidental that Taylor, who was the only other person with keys to the apartment, lost his keys around the time King was killed. The court suggested the keys could have been planned as a cover up to the crime.

The police were also called to the apartment because of a physical altercation between King and the defendant a week before the homicide, but charges were not filed.

Judge Iscoe questioned whether the prosecution had enough evidence to prove a murder conviction without reasonable doubt. He also allowed the defense to have a continuance to determine how they will proceed. A felony status conference is scheduled on June 6.

The case has not been seen by a grand jury as of March 19.

Counsel delivers closing arguments for Moore’s homicide

Counsel delivered closing arguments March 15 in the 2015 murder trial of 32-year-old Tyrone Moore.

According to the prosecution, Harold Marshall, 40, made the conscious decision to kill Moore. Moore was in a violent relationship with Marshall’s sister when he allegedly stabbed him on the 1600 block of F Street, NE on March 22, 2015. Marshall was charged with first-degree murder while armed.

Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Santiago said that when Moore got into an argument with his girlfriend on the night of his death. Marshall, who was sleeping on the couch at the time, got involved. Santiago said the altercation between Marshall and Moore became physical.

Marshall’s sister and Moore’s female friend, who was also staying at the apartment, separated the men. However, when Marshall realized he was bleeding, Santiago said, Marshall proceeded to allegedly stab Moore.

The prosecution also cited testimony from Marshall’s son to invalidate Marshall’s claim that he acted in self-defense or to protect his sister. According to the son, his aunt was trying to hold the bedroom door to keep Marshall from entering.

Marshall allegedly fled the crime scene with the knife, changed his shirt and got rid of the murder weapon. He was arrested a few hours later.

The defense told a vastly different story of how the night unfolded. According to Marshall’s attorney, David Knight, Marshall reasonably believed he had no choice but to go through the bedroom door to protect himself and his sister.

Knight said that Marshall’s sister and the female friend’s testimonies could not be believed because their accounts of the altercation changed over time. Knight also said that Marshall’s son was only 14 years old at the time and misconstrued details about the night.

According to Knight, Moore not only threw the first punch, but also initially pulled a knife on Marshall and stabbed him twice.

Knight said that Marshall asked Moore to leave and had reason to believe that his sister was in trouble when she was locked in the bedroom.

According to the defense, Marshall and Moore struggled over the knife before Moore was stabbed. A knife was found in the living room, but it did not have a sufficient amount of DNA that could be tested on it. The defense said Marshall’s blood on the walls of the apartments prove that he was defending himself.

The jury is expected began their deliberations on March 20.

Document: Park Road homicide

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, 43-year-old Andre Junior, a resident of Upper Marlboro, Md., was shot and killed on the 1500 block of Park Road, NW. The police arrested 27-year-old Robert Edward Green on March 15.



One question goes unanswered in 15-year-old’s homicide: where is the shotgun?

After nearly two weeks of arguments in a murder trial, both the prosecution and defense claim the red herring in their cases is a missing shotgun.

Derryck Decuir is standing trial for allegedly shooting Malek Mercer on the 2800 block of 28th Street, SE on June 16, 2015. Decuir, 25, is claiming that he shot Mercer, 15, in self defense after the teen began to pull a shotgun on him. But, the prosecution says Decuir was the first aggressor.

On the night of the homicide, Mercer and his friend walked a girl to a bus stop. The girl was the only person with Mercer that night to testify that he put a shotgun in the duffle bag he was carrying.

After walking the girl to the bus stop, Mercer and his friend proceeded to go back home when they ran into Decuir and his crew. Apparently there was a joke about Mercer’s red Versace belt, which Decuir seemed to admire.

According to testimony, Decuir and his crew got off at the same bus stop as Mercer and his friend to allegedly go to a 7-Eleven, even though the bus they were riding stopped directly in front of the store.

Decuir said the teenager began to pull a shotgun out of his bag as he turned towards him.

“I shot him before he could shoot me,” Decuir told the jury, adding that after he shot Mercer he fell to the ground out of shock. When he got up Decuir said he looked at Mercer and told the teenager he was sorry and ran away.

But, during a demonstration with a sawed off shotgun — not related to the case — the prosecution showed March 13 that given the fact that Mercer was left-handed, walked to the right of his friend and the angle of the bullet, it was impossible for the teen to have pulled a shotgun on Decuir who was walking about 8 feet behind the young men. The prosecution stated that Mercer didn’t even turn 120 degrees before the bullet severed his spine. The shotgun was not found at the scene, nor was Mercer bruised by falling on a shotgun. Mercer only sustained abraisons that were on his head as a result of hitting the ground.

According to prosecution’s closing argument, Decuir, who was 22 at the time of the homicide, intentionally shot and killed Mercer, referencing a “dead-on look” Decuir’s friend described seeing on the defendant’s face after he shot the teenager. The prosecution insinuated that Decuir’s look along with leaving the scene and not calling 911 did not show remorse.

The prosecution presented a video clip of Decuir and his friends during a rap session that was recorded hours before the homicide. On the video, the defendant mentioned he had a 30-bullet magazine. The prosecution said a ruger pistol and an extended magazine were used in the homicide. Decuir told the jury that he owned a ruger pistol, extended magazine and other guns. The Metropolitan Police Department found the ruger pistol and extended magazine years later in a grassy area in Southeast D.C. Decuir said he asked his friend to hide the pistol.

The prosecution also stated, several times, that Decuir was a liar. According to the prosecution, Decuir lied to the investigating detective, his mother, stepmother, girlfriend, and also to the jury, citing that Decuir wasn’t carrying the pistol with a regular clip in his pants like he claimed, but the ruger with an extended magazine in a backpack he was wearing. Decuir said he lied about shooting Mercer, at first, because he didn’t know that killing someone in self defense was legal.

Decuir said that he was in close proximity to Mercer because he was going to pee by a tree on the corner of Naylor Road SE and 28th Street SE. However, the prosecution refuted the statement by showing the jury a photo of the line of view from the bus stop. The tree, which was located on the south side of an apartment building, was not in sight. Even though Decuir claimed he had to pee, he ultimately didn’t pee in the area, choosing instead to walk about 20 minutes home after the shooting.

“Is he a good enough liar to beat this case,” the prosecution asked the jury.

The defense’s closing argument pushed self defense, citing that the main question in the case was whether Mercer pulled a shotgun on Decuir. According to the defense, the prosecution did not show without a reasonable doubt that Decuir was not acting in self defense when he shot Mercer.

The defense said that the police’s inefficient investigation was the reason the shotgun had not been found, citing that it could have been taken by any of Mercer’s friends that night. The defense referenced an Instagram photo that shows Mercer with a shotgun and cited Mercer’s mother’s testimony when she said her son normally carried a backpack, not a duffle bag. The defense also questioned the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, which included a few of Decuir’s close friends.

There were a lot of assumptions in the homicide case, the defense said.

The jury began deliberations on March 14.

Was Harold Marshall protecting his sister?

One of Harold Marshall‘s siblings testified March 14 that Marshall feared Tyrone Moore would kill their younger sister.

According to his sister, their aunt was killed by a boyfriend when they were kids, and Marshall, 40, often told her that he feared the same thing would happen to their little sister. Moore was apparently involved in a violent relationship with Marshall’s younger sister.

Marshall has been charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing Moore, 32, during a fight on the 1600 block of F Street, NE on March 22, 2015.

The older sister told the jury that Moore and her younger sister’s relationship was “unhealthy and domestic,” and “they shouldn’t have been together.” She cited incidents in which Moore allegedly kicked her sister in the ribs and punched her while she was pregnant with their child.

On the night of his homicide, Moore apparently went to his girlfriend’s apartment drunk. Moore allegedly started fighting with his girlfriend, which led Marshall, who was sleeping on the couch at the time, to get involved. The older sister said she was at the apartment, but left before the fight broke out.

Moore’s friend was also in the apartment. She and Marshall’s sister broke up the first fight between the men, pulling them to different rooms in the apartment.

The older sister also testified that her younger sister said Moore was fighting her when Marshall broke through the back bedroom door and ended up stabbing him. Marshall said he acted in self-defense.

The prosecution questioned the legitimacy of the older sister’s testimony, referencing that she attended all of her brother’s court hearings and is interested in the outcome of his trial.

The trial is expected to continue on March 15.

Jury finds Dominique Williams guilty of second-degree murder

Dominique Williams was found guilty of second-degree murder while armed and other related charges March 13 for shooting Marcellus Green on the 3200 block of 28th Street, SE on Sept. 19, 2015.

A co-defendant, Maricco Knight, 22, was also found guilty to accessory after the fact and obstruction of justice for his role in assisting Williams, 24, while Williams was evading law enforcement prior to his arrest. Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on May 11.

Williams allegedly wanted to make a statement to the person who threatened him, and Pugh wanted seek revenge for his girlfriend, whose tires were slashed on the 3200 block of 28th Street, SE, when they shot and killed Green during a drive-by shooting. Green, 39, was not the intended target.

Williams was initially charged with first-degree murder. Steven Pugh, the third party involved with the homicide, pled guilty to second-degree murder in 2016. He has not been sentenced.

On the night of Sept. 18, 2015, Pugh, 22, told the jury that he picked Williams and Knight up from the Minnesota Avenue metro station and bought a bottle of Patron Tequila from a nearby liquor store.

Pugh said he drove by his girlfriend’s old apartment and saw two men he recognized from the neighborhood, apparently the old men were not the subjects that Williams’ or Pugh had wanted to confront. Push said he tried to stop Williams from shooting.

According to Pugh, he and the two others drove off after the shooting, and a car chase with the police ensued through D.C. and Maryland. He said he intended on driving to his mother’s house in Southwest D.C., but couldn’t shake the police. He instructed Williams to throw the gun out of the vehicle before a police car crashed into his girlfriend’s Honda Accord.

Williams was the only one in the car to avoid getting arrested on the night of the homicide.

While Williams was on the run, Knight housed him at the apartment he shared with his girlfriend on the 4000 block of Minnesota Avenue, NE in 2016. Knight also lied to the police about seeing Williams.

Expert says decedent’s injuries were defensive

A medical examiner testified March 13 that injuries on Tyrone Moore’s forearm and hands seemed as if he was protecting himself from a sharp object.

According to police records, Harold Marshall allegedly fatally stabbed Moore, 32, during a fight on the 1600 block of F Street, NE on March 22, 2015. Moore was apparently involved in a violent relationship with Marshall’s sister. Marshall has been charged with first-degree murder while armed.

The medical examiner said Moore sustained a fatal stab wound that pierced his heart and a lung. The wound was four and a half inches deep.

In addition to the medical examiner, an analyst testified that DNA results showed Moore’s profile was a highly probable match with foreign DNA discovered on Marshall’s right hand. A swab from Marshall’s left hand showed a possible, but far less probable match with Moore’s DNA.

According to the analyst, DNA was tested from 12 items on the scene and then compared to known DNA samples from Moore and Marshall, 40.

The DNA expert said blood on the walls of the back bedroom, where Moore was killed, showed a mix of two or more profiles. Additionally, DNA found on a pocket knife in the apartment was not a high enough quantity to test.

The trial is expected to continue on March 14.

Judge declares a mistrial for Marcus Manor’s homicide

After a week of deliberations, a jury’s inability to reach a unanimous decision prompted Judge Ronna Beck to declare a mistrial March 12 for the 2015 homicide of Marcus Manor. The trial began on Feb. 12.

Jurors said they were undecided on Kevin Chase’s first-degree murder charge. Also, the jury could not decide on whether Demetrius Brandon should be convicted of accessory after the fact in an assault with the intent to kill.

In a partial verdict March 8, the jury found Brandon, 30, not guilty of murder or possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Additionally, the jury found Chase, 30, guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a license. Chase was found not guilty of assault with significant bodily injury from an altercation that happened at his sister’s apartment complex four days before the homicide.

The prosecution opened their case by presenting Manor, 38, as being involved in a violent relationship with Chase’s sister since May 2015. Counsel said Manor parked outside Chase’s sister’s residence to win her back after she kicked him out on Oct. 16, 2015.

According to Chase’s sister, Manor kicked her and “put his hands” on her which led to her kicking him out.

To get rid of Manor, the prosecution said Chase decided to take the law into his own hands and called Brandon to plan and carryout the shooting.

The defense argued the homicide was not a crime; it was self-defense. Chase’s Attorney, Kevann Gardner, said that Manor threatened to kill Chase and he had no choice but to shoot.

“None of us should have to find ourselves in the place Kevin Chase found himself on that day,” Gardner said. He said Chase only protected himself, which is what the law allows.

On the day of the homicide, Chase said he told Manor to leave his sister alone, but Manor became angry. Chase said he shot Manor five times because he seemed to be reaching for a gun.

Surveillance videos from the Metropolitan Police Department and private businesses captured Chase running down the street and getting into Brandon’s car immediately after the shooting.

Brandon’s attorney, James Williams, claimed that Brandon did not have any knowledge of the shooting beforehand.

The defense also tried to establish Manor’s violent demeanor. The defense called an ex-girlfriend who had suffered from instances of abuse, such as when Manor threatened to “blow her brains out” in front of her children.

The prosecution said they would proceed with prosecuting Chase and Brandon for the charges the jury could not rule on.

Judge Beck instructed counsel to provide available trial dates to her chambers by March 19 in order to schedule a new trial. A status hearing was scheduled for March 23.

January trial date set for 2015 homicide

Counsel agreed at a status hearing March 12 to set a Jan. 22, 2019, trial date for a man accused of killing 35-year-old Eric Jackson.

Kenneth Stewart, 28, has been charged with second-degree murder while armed for the fatal shooting of Jackson on Aug. 8, 2015, on the 2200 block of Mount View Place, SE.

The defense said they received disclosures from the prosecution, requesting more time to go over prior charges against Jackson. Judge Ronna Beck said the disclosures are relevant because Stewart is claiming he acted in self-defense.

The prosecution said they will be turning over additional files shortly, and did not oppose the defense’s motion to continue the trial.

Judge Beck ordered that both parties inform the court of their expert witnesses in the case by June 1. A trial readiness hearing is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2019.

What did Moore’s friend really see?

On the third day of a murder trial, defense counsel impeached the testimony of an eyewitness.

The friend of 32-year-old Tyrone Moore said she lived with the decedent and Harold Marshall’s sister on the 1600 block of F Street, NE. Marshall, 40, has been charged with first-degree murder while armed.

According to the friend, Moore and Marshall’s sister had been in a rocky and violent relationship for more than eight years.

In the early morning hours of March 22, 2015, the friend said Moore came home drunk and got into a fight with Marshall’s sister. The two exchanged words that allegedly woke Marshall, who was sleeping on the couch at the time.

The friend testified that the fight didn’t get physical until Marshall stepped in to break things up. According to the friend, Moore swung first.

The friend said she pulled Marshall away and Marshall’s sister pulled Moore into the back bedroom. Then, according to the friend, Marshall allegedly became enraged and said he was going to kill Moore.

The friend told the jury that she saw Marshall on top of Moore in the bedroom.

The friend also said she was “nervous” and “scared” and called 911 after seeing Marshall leave with a knife.

However, during cross examination, the defense said the friend’s testimony conflicted with statements she told a grand jury and detectives.

Although she testified that Moore threw the first punch, she told a detective she didn’t know who swung first. The defense insinuated she was covering for her friend and downplaying Moore’s aggression.

Additionally, the friend admitted she lied to the detective about being in the room during the stabbing. She previously said she pulled Marshall off of Moore during the stabbing, but told the jury that she wasn’t in the room and could only see their feet. She also lied about her name to the 911 operator and a detective.

The trial is expected to continue March 13.

Judge postpones preliminary hearing for homicide case

Judge Danya Dayson postponed March 9 a preliminary hearing for a homicide because counsel needed more time to prepare their arguments.

Ashton Briscoe, 23, was arrested on Feb. 10 and charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Kerrice Lewis, who was also 23, on the 800 block of Adrian Street, SE, on Dec. 28, 2017.

The prosecution said that a potential witness was not yet able to watch a video they sought to introduce as evidence. Both the prosecution and defense asked the judge for more time to sort through discovery files in the case.

The hearing has been rescheduled for March 30.

Trial date set for 2 defendants charged with transgendered woman’s death

A trial is scheduled in January of 2019 for two men who are charged with allegedly fatally shooting a transgendered woman two years ago.

Jalonte Little, 26, and Monte Johnson, 21, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed. The men allegedly shot Deeniquia “Dee Dee” Dodds, who was also known as Gregory Dodds, in the neck on the 200 block of Division Ave., NE on the Fourth of July. Dodds, 22, died at a hospital on July 13. Her homicide was the result of a robbery attempt.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Saunders, the prosecution discovered Little was using D.C. Jail’s mailing system to threaten witnesses. The witnesses alerted the jail.

Defense attorney Brandi Harden said Little was no longer allowed to have any visitors or phone calls. She told Judge Milton Lee the defendant had subsequently been placed on suicide watch. Shareem Hall and Cyheme Hall are also charged with the homicide.

A trial readiness hearing is scheduled for both suspects on Aug. 1.