Prosecutors Say Ex-Girlfriend’s Stolen Car Report Links Her to Triple Homicide, Mass Shooting

By Chelsea Campbell , Carolina Noviello , Avery Kinnison - June 13, 2025
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Victims |

An ex-girlfriend of a triple homicide defendant is said to be involved in an ongoing murder trial before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on June 9th. She allegedly made a stolen rental car report linked to the crime just days after the event.

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 defendants already listed discard evidence and avoid arrests.

Toyia Johnson, Dubose’s ex-lover, became a central figure in the case when, two days after the triple homicide, she showed up at a rental car company in Falls Church, VA, to report a vehicle stolen, according to the lead detective’s testimony. 

The detective further testified that the car she referenced as stolen matched the one seen on surveillance footage the night of the homicides and was later found burned. Prosecutors allege that Johnson may have tried to help cover up Dubose’s involvement. 

On June 11, before the jury entered the courtroom, there was a dispute over a jail call in which Dubose allegedly referenced Johnson, saying, “Shawty calling me… about the wheels. I can’t talk to you the way I want to.” Prosecutors argued this suggested guilty knowledge. 

Johnson’s attorney, David Akulian, said the phrase was slang and cannot be compared to “the Queen’s English.” Judge Kravitz ultimately decided to exclude the call from evidence.

Shortly after, the lead detective on the case was questioned about his involvement in the arrests of the defendants. 

He testified that on September 6, police arrived at the rental car company in Falls Church to investigate the homicide further. While there, they encountered Johnson, who told officers she wanted to report a vehicle as stolen. Investigators say the rental manager turned over a spare set of keys to the vehicle. 

According to the detective, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was told there was a GPS tracker attached to the car. 

Police subpoenaed the GPS data and reviewed Johnson’s phone records as well as 911 calls and footage of the Fourth District police station in case Johnson had visited recently asking for assistance. . 

According to law enforcement, there was no indication that Johnson filed a police report regarding the stolen car prior to visiting the rental agency, raising questions about her intent. Johnson was arrested on Oct. 19, 2021, after Erwin Dubose and co-defendant Kamar Queen.

During the investigation, authorities collected more than 30 call logs and interviewed several ex-girlfriends connected to the suspects. Johnson-Lee’s ex-girlfriend initially denied recognizing anyone in video footage, but once the video was slowed down repeatedly, she said one individual resembled her ex-boyfriend. 

Police also seized phones and conducted home searches where they found clothing that allegedly matched what suspects were wearing in surveillance footage. 

On cross-examination, Thompson’s attorney, Elizabeth Weller, questioned the MPD detective about his preliminary investigations citing that Thompson was not initially a person of interest in the case in September 2021. 

In focus was MPD’s identification of suspects in surveillance footage from the 400 block of Galloway Street, NE at 5:07 p.m., a few hours before the shooting, and at about 7:45 p.m. immediately after the shooting. The fourth suspect in the footage was initially identified as a different individual, not Thompson, and was only later reidentified as Thompson in the 5:07 p.m. footage. No identification was made for the suspect in the later footage due to a mask. 

The reidentification occurred after the same identifying officer was shown surveillance, without a time stamp, from the 800 block of Oglethorpe Street, NW where she identified a person in the footage as the initial suspect in the Galloway footage. The detective on stand testified that this Oglethorpe Street footage was taken around the same time as the first Galloway Street footage and that the initial suspect was also identified in the Oglethorpe Street footage by his godmother.

Weller used this identification confusion to question the MPD detective on measures taken in the investigation of the initial suspect, Thompson. The detective stated that evidence was obtained within three-to-four days of the initial identification that indicated the initial suspect was not present in the Galloway Street footage. In this time, no steps were taken to pursue investigation of that suspect, according to the detective.

Queen’s defense attorney, Brian McDaniel, shifted questioning to focus on Queen’s arrest on Oct. 13, 2021 and proceeding search warrants related to the shooting noting that none of the searched locations were connected to Queen. 

The detective testified that he made efforts to find an address for Queen, having visited the address indicated in the defendant’s biographical information at the time of arrest. The detective, however, was unable to corroborate that Queen actually lived at the address. As such, no search was conducted.

McDaniel also noted that of the two phones belonging to Queen that were seized upon arrest, only one of the two numbers was subjected to cell-site analysis. 

Upon re-direct, the detective pointed to the lack of activity on record for this second number between Aug. 3 and Sept. 6, 2021, this including the date of the incident on Sept. 4, 2021, as reason for the exclusion. He clarified that without cell activity, no location data would have been available for the phone regardless.

The prosecution advanced cell site analysis noting numerous results for what was identified as Rezene’s number in and around the area of the 400 block of Galloway Street, NE in the evening of Sept. 5, 2021, the day following the shooting, as well as many results for the number on the day of the shooting.

Parties are slated to reconvene June 16.