Prosecutors dismissed two among four charges against a fatal stabbing defendant at a hearing before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on July 20.
Vanessa Bonaparte, 34, was originally charged with first-degree premeditated murder while armed, threat to kidnap or injure a person, destruction of property more than $1,000 and tampering with physical evidence for her alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 31-year-old Dwayne Boyd on June 22, 2024, on the 3500 block of East Capitol Street, SE. Boyd sustained two stab wounds to his chest.
At the hearing, prosecutors dismissed Bonaparte’s threat and tampering charges but quarreled over her identification as a suspect. .
Bonaparte had a prior relationship with Boyd, according to a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective present at the hearing.
Bonaparte waived her right to be present, as her mother had died the day before. According to Bonaparte’s attorneys, Kevann Gardner and Roderick Thompson, Bonaparte returned to the DC Jail after they informed her of what they expected to discuss.
Gardner said the death was “unexpected,” but the trial will proceed as scheduled.
The prosecution filed a motion on May 8 to preclude Bonaparte from claiming self-defense and introducing evidence of Boyd’s violent history, citing a lack of relevant evidence. However, the prosecutor learned in the hearing that a witness present at the scene allegedly heard Bonaparte make statements to Boyd like, “You better not touch me.”
Judge Kravitz said that parties must prove sufficiently that Bonaparte acted in self-defense to admit evidence of Boyd’s violent character. If not suppressed, the prosecution asserted Boyd’s character should be “very delicately managed.”
According to parties, two of Boyd’s former partners reportedly filed Civil Protection Orders (CPO) and a Temporary Protection Orders (TPO) against him, however the prosecution noted the CPOs were later dismissed.
Judge Kravitz asked the defense what the former partners might say in their testimony or proposed scheduling a hearing to discuss the issue. Ultimately, he delayed ruling on the issue but asked the defense to let him know before mentioning self-defense at trial.
Thompson also filed a motion on June 23 to suppress a witness’ identification of Bonaparte during an MPD interview. According to the motion, the identification was “unnecessarily suggestive,” as officers only showed the witness one photo.
An MPD detective testified regarding the motion. In an audio recording played in court, a woman claimed the person who stabbed Boyd was named “Vanessa” and wearing a multicolored dress. Although the woman did not know Vanessa’s last name, an MPD officer then showed a photograph of Bonaparte, who the woman identified as “Vanessa,” according to the detective.
The detective testified that Bonaparte and the woman met for the first time the day Boyd died and had three subsequent interactions that day. However, the detective alleged that the woman knew of Bonaparte prior to Boyd’s death, as the woman claimed Boyd told her that he cheated on her with Bonaparte.
The detective said Bonaparte and the woman were reportedly taking methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a hallucinogen also known as Molly, in Boyd’s apartment “earlier in the day,” but she did not know the exact time or whether anyone else was present.
According to the detective, Bonaparte went to the MPD station to discuss Boyd’s death on June 23, 2024, and was arrested that day.
Judge Kravitz denied the defense’s motion to suppress the identification evidence, ruling that although it is “suggestive” for a detective to only show one photo, it is still “nonetheless reliable” because the woman had an “excellent opportunity” to observe Bonaparte.
Thompson also alerted Judge Kravitz to a “quite troublesome” issue, ind that he recently learned that Boyd had a wife when he died. According to Thompson, the defense learned this earlier the day of the hearing because she had been present in the courtroom.
Prosecutors alleged that Bonaparte’s attorneys “should have known” this, as it was included in the evidence. Thomspon pointed out that the information about Boyd’s wife was “buried” under other material.
Judge Kravitz ordered prosecutors to give Thompson and Gardner all of Boyd’s wife’s contact information.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on July 21.
