Case Acquitted: Parties Deliver Closing Arguments in Homicide Case

By Aerial Lopez [former] - March 23, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Sutton was acquitted of murder and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence on March 23, 2023.

After a three-week trial, defense attorney Jessica Willis and the prosecution delivered their closing arguments.

Kaevon Sutton, 21, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or place of business in relation to the shooting of Aujee Tyler. Sutton allegedly shot Tyler, 22, after an altercation on March 19, 2018, on the 3500 block of Stanton Road, SE. 

“These are legitimately emotional issues being addressed,” said DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan. “I want the jury to make a decision based on the evidence they hear, not based on the comments they hear in the gallery; public participation is only to the extent of being present,” he continued before closing arguments began on March 21. 

The prosecution opened the closing argument portion of the trial by saying the alleged crime was “intentional, premeditated first-degree murder,” not self-defense. The prosecutor said that Sutton held issue with being told what to do, and when Tyler held moral ground by telling him not to steal cars, Sutton snapped. 

When Sutton returned to the stoop on the 3500 block of Stanton Road, he walked with determination, retrieved his firearm, pointed his weapon at Tyler, and continued to fire unprompted sixteen times, the prosecutor said.  

When the defense held the floor for closing, Willis said Sutton, “did what the law allows him to do, he acted in self-defense.”

Willis informed the court that Tyler carried firearms of his own and had a gun charge from 2016.

She also said the prosecution gave selective arguments, failed to call key witnesses, relied heavily on gory autopsy photographs, and trusted their noncompliant witnesses to deliver the full story.

She closed her argument by pleading with the jury, “please do not let the passage of time obscure what happened here.” 

Willis said Sutton was sixteen-years-old at the time of the incident and deserved the realization that he was “a misguided kid in an impossible situation just trying to survive it.”

The prosecution concluded the trial with their rebuttal, saying “what’s the best way to take out a professional boxer? With a gun, because you can’t take eleven shots to the body.”

The jury is set to return for deliberation on March 22.