Case Acquitted: ‘The First Bullet Killed Her. The Second One Was Extra,’ Says Prosecutor in Homicide Trial Opening

By Audrey Staudacher , Ayda Atici [former] - March 13, 2024
Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting |

Tierra Posey was acquitted of all charges on March 20, 2024.

On March 12, DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo heard opening statements and eyewitness testimony in the case of a fatal shooting caught on gas station video surveillance. 

Tierra Posey, 24, is charged with second-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business for her alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Tia Carey on Jan. 6, 2020, at a gas station on the 3700 block of Minnesota Avenue, NE. 

According to court documents, a physical altercation occurred between Posey and Carey at a gas station. This escalated into a shooting, in which Posey allegedly produced a firearm and fired two shots. Carey, despite quick medical intervention, succumbed to her injuries. 

The prosecution began recounting the incident, most of which was captured by the gas station’s video surveillance and bystander recordings. 

According to the prosecution, Carey confronted Posey and another man at the gas station, who was later identified as Carey’s boyfriend.

“He was, essentially, caught cheating,” the prosecution said. They claimed this caused Carey to grow confrontational. “It is Tia [Carey] that is, in fact, the first aggressor.”

The ensuing fight between Carey and Posey caused many bystanders, including Carey’s boyfriend, to intervene. This also included Carey’s sister, who had been waiting in the car with Carey’s two children during the altercation. 

But then, according to prosecutors, once the fight was over, Posey grabbed a firearm from the boyfriend’s vehicle and fired at Carey, who was standing mere feet away.

“Who, in this moment, is thinking someone is about to die?” the prosecution asked.

They then presented the jury with video footage of the incident, overlayed with audio from a bystander’s recording. The video showed the group scattering once shots were fired. Posey and the boyfriend apparently attempt to flee in their vehicle, but Posey was stopped by Carey’s sister until the police arrived. 

“Posey pointed, arm straight, purposefully, accurately, and shot twice,” the prosecutors said. Of Carey, they said, “The first bullet killed her. The second one was extra.”

They argued that Posey was the only person with a firearm and was no longer in fear for her life when she pulled the trigger.

“She makes the decision … while Carey is not even looking at her,” the prosecutors said, alleging that Carey had turned away to talk to her boyfriend when Posey fired.

“We ask you to deliver the only verdict consistent with the facts,” the prosecution concluded. “Guilty.”

Posey’s defense attorney, Quiana Harris, began her opening statement by quoting the words Carey’s sister shouted to Carey during the altercation: “Crush her! Crush her! Crush her!”

“Those are the words Posey hears as she is surrounded,” Harris said.

She claimed that Posey had been acting in self-defense after being assaulted by Carey, Carey’s boyfriend, Carey’s sister, and multiple bystanders in an attack that caused her “to fear for her life.”

“Posey did what the law allows someone to do,” said Harris. “She did what she had to do to save her life.”

Harris claimed that prior to the altercation at the gas station, Posey and Carey had never met, and were not aware of each other.  Posey had been spending time with the victim’s boyfriend and was in the passenger seat of his car when Carey confronted her boyfriend before approaching Posey.

According to Harris, Carey opened the passenger door and said, “B***h, get out of the car, I’m gonna f**k you up.”

Harris stated that when Posey refused to leave the car and engage with her, Carey entered the rear passenger seat and punched her in the back of the head. Both then exited the vehicle.

“Posey is scared to death!” Harris said, claiming the events happened quickly, with “unknown people approaching her from all sides.”

According to Harris, the prosecution was trying to downplay Posey’s fear during the attack. 

“It’s very easy to second guess what she should have done,” Harris said. “Posey couldn’t pause time, slow it down, or fast forward like we can when we watch the video. She acted in a second to a reasonable fear she would be killed.”

Harris requested the jury find Posey not guilty of all charges.

The prosecution then called Carey’s sister who said she was not concerned about Tia Carey’s initial confrontation with her boyfriend as she was too preoccupied with “trying to maintain the kids” in the backseat of her car.

It wasn’t until she saw Posey and Carey fighting that she grew concerned, citing that Posey “was a bit bigger than my sister,” so she got out of the car to intervene.

“I was trying to help my sister,” she said, but testified she never saw who threw the first punch and also tried to hit Posey herself.

According to her, the others at the scene managed to break up the fight, so she headed back to her still-running car.

“I assumed it was over,” she said. “I assumed everything was broken up.”

She then claimed she heard shots fired, and sprinted back to her car, as did the crowd that had formed. But when she got there, she realized Carey hadn’t fled.

“When I saw my sister wasn’t behind me, I panicked,” she said. 

The prosecution then played video surveillance footage for the witness, who testified to sitting in Posey’s lap when she tried to get in the driver’s seat of the vehicle.

“I’m trying to stop her from leaving the scene,” the witness said of her actions in the footage. “I’m freaking out.”

Her testimony and other witness testimony will continue March 13.