Victim’s Mom Testifies in Homicide Trial

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A victim’s mother testified about her son’s loss before a jury in DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman’s courtroom on Feb. 26.

Daquan Gray, 22, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and carrying a pistol without a license outside of his home or business, for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of Jaylyn Wheeler, 15, on May 26, 2018 on the 600 block of Alabama Avenue, SE.

The prosecution called on Wheeler’s mother, who testified the last time she saw Wheeler was the Monday before he was killed, as he had stayed home from school. Wheeler was in ninth grade at Ballou High School when he was killed.

She became very emotional as she testified, stating she learned of his death during a phone call from one of Wheeler’s friends’ parents. At the time, she said, Wheeler was only 15-years-two-months old.

Prosecutors also called on an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). The officer testified that she was called to the scene over dispatch radio, after reports of shots fired.

Her body-worn camera footage of the incident played in court showed Wheeler on the ground surrounded by police officers, and a crowd of witnesses gathered close by.

Another officer testified that he was field training a fellow officer when they received reports of gunfire and that an individual had been shot.

The officer testified that he took control of the scene, and identified potential eye witnesses who lived on the street, as well as a neighbor who had security cameras on the outside of the house.

Prosecutors also called on a handyman who was working in the house next to the location of the shooting. He stated that he had walked out to get some tools from his car when he heard arguing in the alley between two people.

He recalled that a third individual collapsed in the alley and that he did not have a weapon.

The witness he did not actually see the shooting nor who was shot or who fired the weapon.

The trial is slated to resume Feb 27.