Prosecution and Defense Call Witnesses in Murder Trial

By Holden Rafey [former] - November 30, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting |

Editors Note: The defendant in this case has since been acquitted on all counts. 

Both the prosecution and defense called witnesses to testify in the continuation of Daniel Parker’s murder trial on Nov. 30.

Dewayne Shorter, 33, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting 38-year-old Daniel Parker on July 26, 2017, on the 2000 block of Fairlawn Avenue, SE. 

The prosecution called two witnesses: a Metropolitan Police Department detective and a member of Parker’s family.  Both testified about a conversation between two people at the crime scene. 

The detective testified to seeing the two step aside from a group of people and have a conversation. Body Worn Camera footage showed the interaction. In it, the two individuals can be seen standing by themselves.

The victim’s family member testified that she had spoken to one of the individuals who was seen conversing and they told her that the other person had asked her to give the police an inaccurate description of the suspect. The victim’s family member also testified that she had spoken to both individuals days after the shooting and that both, separately, had told her that Shorter was the shooter. 

Defense attorney Jon Norris questioned the legitimacy of these claims, since the witness had not seen anything herself but was simply relaying what she had heard from other individuals. 

The defense then called a neighbor who had seen someone leaving the area of the shooting to the witness stand. 

The witness testified that he had heard gunshots and then peaked out of his front door. He saw an individual who did not look like Shorter holding a long firearm. This witness testified that he knew Shorter and would have known if the person he saw was him. 

In their cross examination, the prosecution asked why the witness never went to the police with this information. The witness said that he has lived in Southeast DC his entire life and has been conditioned not to call the police. 

The defense then called another witness. This witness was stopped by police on the night of the shooting. Officers told him he was stopped because he matched the description of an individual involved in a shooting. 

Judge Marisa Demeo requested the witness to continue his testimony when the trial resumes on Dec. 1.