Prosecutors Present Evidence of Alleged Cover-Up of Triple-Homicide, Mass Shooting

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The prosecution presented evidence they allege proves two among six co-defendants acted to cover-up a mass shooting during a trial before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on May 13.

Erwin Dubose, 31, Kamar Queen, 28, Damonta Thompson, 28, and William Johnson-Lee, 22, are charged with conspiracy, premeditated first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, assault with significant bodily injury while armed, among other charges, for their alleged involvement in the mass shooting that killed 31-year-old Donnetta Dyson, 24-year-old Keenan Braxton, and 37-year-old Johnny Joyner. The incident occurred on the 600 block of Longfellow Street, NW on Sept. 4, 2021, and injured three additional individuals.

Mussay Rezene, 32, and Toyia Johnson, 53, are charged with accessory after the fact while armed and tampering with physical evidence for their alleged involvement in assisting the other defendants discard evidence and avoid arrests.

Prosecutors allege Johnson rented a black Honda Accord used to execute the shooting and then falsely reported the vehicle stolen to cover-up the crime.

The prosecution played nine 911 calls between Sept. 4 and Sept. 7 in which Johnson repeatedly reported a stolen black Honda Accord she had rented. Prosecutors informed the jury that parties agreed upon the dates and times of the 911 calls with the first call on Sept. 4, 2021 at 8:40 p. m.

Following the 911 calls, prosecutors called a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer who responded to the stolen vehicle call and met with Johnson to file a report on Sept. 7. The prosecution played the officer’s body-worn camera footage of his interaction with Johnson.

In the video, the officer informed Johnson a black Honda was involved in homicides a few days prior and Johnson told the officer she parked the car the evening of Sept. 2 and reported it stolen the morning of Sept. 4. The officer is heard telling Johnson that’s good. He said that if Johnson reported the car missing Saturday morning it would have been before the homicides.

The officer also told Johnson in the video that if she had proof of her efforts to report the stolen vehicle then she can’t be implicated in the homicides. “I don’t think you had anything to do with it,” said the officer in the footage.

An expert in the field of fingerprint comparison and identification testified that the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) sent him fingerprints linked to the case. The expert said he identified the prints from DFS as Rezene’s through comparison to known prints from the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFES).

Prosecutors claim the fingerprints link Rezene to a gray Nissan Maxima he allegedly used to burn the Honda.

During cross-examination, Rezene’s attorney, Kevin Robertson, noted that the expert has no knowledge of when the prints were left or the circumstances they were left in.

The fingerprint expert also said he compared the prints to Dubose’s known prints, but during cross-examination from Dubose’s attorney, Michael Bruckheim, the witness confirmed there were no identifications regarding Dubose.

The trial is scheduled to resume on May 14.