The prosecution called a mutual friend of the defendant and the victim as a key witness in a homicide trial involving two best friends before DC Superior Court Judge Milton Lee on June 3.
Juan Guerra, 34, is charged with second-degree murder for his alleged involvement in the death of Peter Miller III, 32, who died from blunt force trauma on the 900 block of Maine Avenue SW on Oct. 6, 2021. Miller succumbed to his injuries on Oct. 11, 2021.
Prosectors argue that the primary cause of Miller’s death was manual strangulation resulting from the physical dispute between him and Guerra in a heated game of dice.
The witness confirmed that the two were “business partners” and “best friends,” as well as roommates.
The prosecution asked the mutual friend about Guerra’s mood around October 2021. Remembering that Guerra had legal, and financial issue the witness said Guerra handled stress with drugs and alcohol. The witness said, “we all partied, maybe he partied a little harder.”
The prosecution then asked what happened on the evening of Oct. 5, 2021. The mutual friend said the night included some drinking and gambling over dice with friends at Guerra and Miller’s apartment. The witness remembered the defendant being in good spirits at the time.
By 1:15 a. m., the witness, Guerra, and Miller were the only people in the apartment. The game continued, degenerating into a verbal argument between Guerra and Miller. The dispute became more heated, until the witness said the defendant “closed-fist” punched Miller. The mutual friend indicated that he was punched in the middle of his chest and immediately deciding to leave, hearing the argument continue between Guerra and Miller as he left the apartment.
When he went back to his apartment in the same building, and got ready for bed, he received a phone notification, and subsequently went back to the scene. The witness said, “the place looked like it got flipped upside down” and found Miller facedown on the couch.
He claimed that Guerra went to his room, and Miller was unresponsive. The witness called 911, and the operator instructed him to perform chest compressions while waiting for the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT).
At some point, the friend noticed Guerra walking around. When the EMTs arrived, the friend said he left the scene to let them, with emergency personnel asking Guerra to continue doing chest compressions. The witness was not sure if that happened.
The witness then stopped at the eighth floor to tell his roommate, another friend of the defendant’s and the victim’s, who was in the apartment earlier that night what transpired.
During cross-examination, Guerra’s attorney, Kevin Mosley, pointed out several inconsistencies in the friend’s testimony during trial and in previous statements made to a detective the day of the incident.
Mosley questioned the witness’ claims that he walked right in the unlocked apartment door upon returning, which he clarified was incorrect. Mosley also questioned the witness’ recollection of the whereabouts of his roommate who had been present at the apartment that night. The witness had initially claimed that he alerted his roommate on his way up after retrieving the paramedics, but Mosley claimed the roommate was already at the apartment.
The defense also presented the 911 call made by the mutual friend, in which he is heard asking Guerra to help move Miller’s body from the couch. In the call, someone in the background, presumably the defendant, is heard saying, “I got him.”
Mosley also noted a statement from the call, where the mutual friend described Miller as “unconscious and drunk.” The witness said that Miller had been drinking, but not that he was intoxicated.
Earlier, the prosecuting attorneys called an analyst from the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) who compared police photographic evidence to a diagram of the crime scene.
During Mosley’s cross-examination, Mosley question the witness’s knowledge of the diagram. The witness was unable to provide exact measurements of certain locations because they were not made at the scene. Mosley replied, “Because you don’t know, the jury doesn’t know.”
The forensic scientist identified two firearms in court, as well as a nightstand containing multiple $20 and $5 dollar bills and a passport allegedly with the defendant’s name. Additionally, she established that a total of 45 cartridges were found at the scene.
The prosecution also called Miller’s sister, who spoke to him via phone call around 10:30 p. m. the night of the incident. She claimed to have heard voices in the background of the call and that Miller was in “good spirits.”
Prosecutors displayed an Instagram post from the night of the incident that Miller’s sister screenshotted the next day. The video shows three dice rolled onto the floor, with multiple stacks of money. She recognized the scene as being from Guerra and Miller’s shared apartment.
Miller’s family visited him during the days Miller spent in the hospital. His sister described him as having bloodshot eyes and being physically injured.
While Miller was in the hospital, his father received a call from Guerra. In cross-examination, Guerra’s other attorney, Diana Yu, claimed Guerra was asking about Miller’s condition. His father did not answer the call and the sister could not confirm the reason for the call.
According to the prosecuting attorneys, Guerra did not attend Miller’s funeral. Yu clarified with Miller’s sister that it was because he did not receive an invitation.
The parties are slated to reconvene on June 4.
