A key witness testified that a defendant confessed to him that he committed a 2009 homicide in a trial before DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on June 2.
Randolph Thomas, 43, is charged with felony murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, five counts of possession of firearm during a crime of violence, robbery while armed, and first-degree burglary while armed of Emmanuel Durant Jr., 19, on the 200 block of Webster Street, NE on Dec. 31, 2009.
A witness who claimed he and Thomas spent nearly every day together testified that the day of the incident, the defendant walked him and others through a robbery that turned fatal the night before.
Thomas’ friend revealed that upon picking up Thomas on New Year’s Eve, the defendant’s first words were, “Your little man dead,” referring to Durant’s brother, who the witness described as a drug dealer.
The witness then revealed the rest of what Thomas disclosed during an estimated 10-minute long conversation. The reported confession included Thomas and one accomplice allegedly waiting outside the house where the crime occurred, holding multiple victims inside the house at gunpoint, before putting a pillow over Durant’s head and fatally shooting him.
The witness additionally detailed calls between him and Thomas hours before the incident, in which Thomas reportedly asked him to contact Durant’s brother for drugs at the request of his accomplice.
Because of time limitations, the witness will finish his testimony the next day of trial.
An additional witness whose sister was in a romantic relationship with Thomas at the time told the prosecution that Thomas slept over at his residence around five-to-six times per week. He also testified that Thomas carried a 40-caliber firearm at his hip, he had named “his baby,” but usually hid it from family.
The witness testified that he was unaware of Durant’s murder at the time and the following day where the witness, Thomas, and others went to a family New Year’s Eve party.
An eyewitness, Durant’s brother’s former girlfriend, also testified who said she was in the house and was held at gunpoint during the incident. The eyewitness said she heard her then-boyfriend say to the gunmen, “That’s my girlfriend” right before the barrel was pointed at her face.
She recalled her then-boyfriend was faced down with the other gunman standing above him. According to the eyewitness, the gunman told her to call down Durant from upstairs. After Durant came downstairs, the witness said he and the gunman started to tussle.
Then, the eyewitness described hearing the fatal shot and seeing both gunmen run out the side door. After they left, she ran to her boyfriend because they both feared he was shot by the second bullet, but sustained no injuries.
During her testimony, the eyewitness revealed that when one of the suspects approached her, it “seemed like he was about to shoot me, but he didn’t.” The eyewitness added that she felt there could’ve been sympathy towards her from the gunman.
At the time, the eyewitness revealed to police that the suspect reminded her of someone who she knew and went to high school with. Thomas’ attorney, Kevin Steward, homed in on this detail and emphasized that Thomas did not attend high school with her.
During their redirect, the prosecution clarified that the eyewitness was simply using the person from her high school as a descriptive reference. The eyewitness compared her reference to, “If it was a clown, a clown has a red nose.”
The eyewitness described the suspect as someone who dressed young, talked young, and was likely 18-years-old. Both the defense and prosecution emphasized the eyewitness’ description of the suspect’s eyelashes, which she said were very “curly and girly.”
Throughout her testimony, parties questioned the eyewitness about how she described the height of the suspects. Originally, the eyewitness said the suspect was two-to-three inches taller than her height of five-foot-four.
During the redirect, the prosecution brought up height again, and asked if the eyewitness would like to read the police report to “refresh [her] memory.” After a brief moment of looking at the report, the eyewitness stated, “he was five-foot-seven.”
The jury trial is scheduled to resume on June 3.
