Victim’s Brother Identifies Defendant as Shooter In Nightclub Murder Retrial

By Elizabeth Bernstein [former] - November 15, 2024
Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

“I knew what I saw,” testified the brother of a victim who was fatally shot outside a nightclub regarding his identification of the defendant in a photo array. The moment came during a murder retrial before DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun on Nov. 13.

Mark Beasley, 52 is charged with first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, assault with intent to kill while armed, and unlawful possession of a firearm for the fatal shooting of Darryn Conte on April 26, 2015, on the 6900 block of 4th Street, NW. One other individual sustained injuries.

Beasley’s defense attorney, Albert Amissah, questioned Conte’s brother over his statement to police that he identified Beasley based on a “gut feeling.” Amissah asked the witness if he was uncertain and had possibly identified Beasley because he recognized him from the nightclub, not because he saw him at the shooting.

The witness responded that he “knew what [he] saw” and only used the term “gut feeling” because it was still difficult to reconcile the night as real.

“He was the individual I saw walking towards [the] car,” the witness said. “I saw him shoot at the passenger side of the Lexus,” which was where the victim was sitting.

The witness also clarified that he was “clear headed” when the shooting occurred. He said the night was a “blur” only after the shooting because he was trying to get his brother to wake up and not focusing on anything else.

The prosecution called another of Conte’s brothers, who was in the car at the time of the shooting and sustained injuries. 

“Everything was happy,” the witness said about the night before the shooting took place. He said there were no fights. He left the club with his brother and sat in his Lexus in the alley while they waited for their other brother and a friend. 

The witness testified he was “intoxicated” and his memory of the night was “pretty poor,” but he saw the silhouette of a man on the passenger side where his brother was sitting immediately before the shooting. He added that the shooter was “right on the car.”

Following the shooting, the witness described pulling his brother towards him and stepping out of the car to see the shooter but falling to the ground because he had been shot in his lower back. He said he saw a light-skinned male in a light-colored shirt or jacket before he fell. 

The prosecution also called the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer who responded to the shooting.

The officer testified that, when he arrived at the scene, one individual was hanging out of the car. He explained it is typical in some cases to leave a victim in as they are until officers can gather photographs and evidence.

The prosecution showed the jury photograph of Conte hanging headfirst out of the car, with his foot stuck in the steering wheel and multiple placards indicating bullet cartridges on the ground.

The trial will resume on Nov. 14.