Prosecution Presents Interrogation Video Between Defendant and Witness

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During a Nov. 10 hearing, two witnesses testified on evidence presented to the jury.

Derek Turner, 31, and Ronnika Jennings, 44, are charged with first-degree murder while armed and conspiracy in connection to the shooting of 28-year-old Andrew McPhatter on March 5, 2017 on the 3500 block of Wheeler Road, SE.

Jennings is also charged with assault with intent to kill and several counts of accessory of murder after the fact.

The third defendant, 33-year-old Duan Hill, is charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in this matter as well.

Turner is also charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 23-year-old Devin Hall on Jan. 7, 2017, on the 3500 block of 6th Street, SE.

A Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) continued his testimony from the Nov. 9 trial.

The prosecution presented recordings from several calls Turner made to his former girlfriend as well as Jennings and his mother.

During cross-examination, Turner’s defense attorney Michael Madden questioned the witness’s familiarity with the DC Jail phone system. He also emphasized that the witness has no knowledge regarding how many other incarcerated individuals contacted the defendant’s ex-girlfriend.

A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective in the homicide unit leading the Hall case testified to his interrogation of Jennings, who was a former employee of the MPD herself. Acting as a customer service representative, Jennings had access to the entire MPD database. The prosecutors in the case accused her of utilizing her access to the database in order to run the names for her co-conspirators and friends.

The prosecution presented a video recording of Jennings’s interrogation with the detective.

During his investigation, the witness testified to seeing Jenning’s name come up several times. After establishing Jenning’s as a common occurrence in the case, the witness decided to bring her in for questioning.

“You want to tell us how active you’ve been with Derek?” the detective asked in the video.

Jennings explained that “she doesn’t know Fats like that.” Fats is Turner’s nickname to which Jennings more commonly knew him by.

In the video, Jennings was very insistent that she did not know any more than what she was telling the detective.

In response, the detective told her, “I have nothing to lose. You have everything. You have mouths to feed… you have bills, you have everything.”

Similarly, while talking about Turner’s incarceration, the detective told Jennings “you might be sitting next to him.”

DC Superior Court Judge Marisa J. Demeo set the trial to continue on Nov. 14.

The prosecution expects to rest early next week.

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