Thank you for reading D.C. Witness.
Help us continue our mission into 2025 by donating to our end of year campaign.
By
D.C. Witness Staff
- December 13, 2018
Court
|
Daily Stories
|
Homicides
|
Suspects
|
The mother of a 2015 homicide victim took the stand Dec. 12 and identified the defendant as the man who killed her son. However, a police officer says the mother was under the influence of PCP, a mind-altering drug, when she made her initial statement about the shooter.
Eric McDuffie is charged with first-degree murder and a related gun charge for allegedly shooting 23-year-old Antonio McCallister on the 2700 block of Langston Place, SE. McDuffie, 27, was initially tried in April; however, the jury was unable to make a unanimous decision.
During the hearing, McCallister’s mother told the jury that on the night of the murder she was only feet away from her son when he was shot.
A Metropolitan Police officer, who helped contain the mother on the night of the murder, told the jury that the mother was “hard to manage” and smelled of PCP. The officer also said that the mother pointed toward McDuffie’s house and said the shooter came from there.
To explain her drug usage, the mother said she started smoking PCP to “smother” her feelings. She said she lost her first son, who was nearly a year old, in 1997. The mother also said she drank nearly a six pack of beer, among other alcoholic beverages, and smoked “dippers”, cigarettes laced in PCP, on the night of the murder.
During cross-examination, the defense noted that the mother, who is diagnosed with manic depression, was prescribed multiple drugs but wasn’t taking them on the day her son was killed.
The mother continued her testimony on Dec. 13.