Prosecutors cross-examined a homicide defendant about her claim of self-defense before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on Aug. 10.
Vanessa Bonaparte, 34, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder while armed and misdemeanor destruction of property for allegedly stabbing her former sexual partner, 31-year-old Dwayne Boyd. Boyd sustained two stab wounds to his chest and died on the 3500 block of East Capitol Street, SE on June 22, 2024.
Bonaparte continued her testimony and prosecutors played a voicemail recording that captured audio of Bonaparte and Boyd arguing the afternoon of his death. At the start of the recording, Bonaparte audibly entered Boyd’s apartment and shouted, “Open the fucking door. I don’t give a fuck about none of that bitch.”
Bonaparte said she was angry from the heat outside and cursed at Boyd, who in the recording told her, “Stop what you’re doing.” In her testimony, she said Boyd was “calm at first and then it was like he flipped and became somebody different.”
In the midst of Boyd and Bonaparte’s verbal fighting, a loud noise was heard in the background of the voicemail. The prosecution claimed this was Bonaparte kicking in the window of Boyd’s apartment to enter, while Bonaparte said it was Boyd slapping her.
In redirect, Bonaparte’s attorney, Kevann Gardner, highlighted in body-worn camera footage from police responding to the scene that there were no visible cuts or blood on Bonaparte’s leg that would be expected from breaking a glass window.
Bonaparte said Boyd pushed and grabbed her by the neck, choking her in his apartment kitchen to the point where she saw stars and urinated on herself. According to Bonaparte, she reached for two knives on the counter and stabbed Boyd in his upper left and right chest in self-defense.
When Gardner asked Bonaparte why she stabbed Boyd, she said, “So he could get off me, and I could run away.”
The prosecution claimed Bonaparte was inconsistent in her description of how her body was positioned in the kitchen, changing her story about whether her back was against the wall or counters. In redirect examination, Bonaparte clarified that her back was initially against the wall in the kitchen, but when Boyd grabbed her neck, her back was against the counters.
Prosecutors also questioned how Boyd would not have noticed Bonaparte grabbing the knives, if he was allegedly standing over and choking her at the time.
After allegedly stabbing Boyd, Bonaparte said she ran out of the apartment and was surprised to find police outside the building. In her testimony, she admitted to lying to the responding officers by falsely saying she had called 911, and when police asked if she needed an ambulance, Bonaparte said she was okay and did not mention any stabbing or choking.
According to Bonaparte, she was frantic from Boyd having just choked her and was “trying to get away from the situation.” Bonaparte turned herself into police the next day on June 23, 2024.
The defense rested its case, and prosecutors called a transcriptionist at the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) to the stand as a rebuttal witness. Prosecutors said that, earlier in the trial, Bonaparte testified that she saw police cars outside the apartment at a separate incident that took place on either June 1 or June 2.
The OUC transcriptionist said she conducted a search for calls for emergency services on these dates from the address Bonaparte stated and found no results. In cross-examination, the witness confirmed her search would not have flagged any calls made on surrounding days, like May 31 or June 3, or from neighboring addresses.
In response to prosecutors’ untimely disclosure of material potentially discrediting two Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) employees who testified to processing the crime scene, Judge Kravitz said defense counsel is allowed to reopen cross-examination of these witnesses.
Gardner said he intended to question one of the DFS witnesses, as he reportedly sent “blatantly racist messages” on a public platform. DFS considered terminating the witness for his racist behavior, according to Gardner.
Parties are slated to reconvene for the cross-examination of the DFS witness and closing statements on Aug. 11.
