During her third day of testimony, a murder defendant’s ex-girlfriend admitted to lying to police for several hours while being interrogated.
Nyekemia Everett and Malik Hewitt are charged with first-degree murder while armed, conspiracy, attempt to commit robbery while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for their alleged roles in the shooting of 37-year-old Christopher Heard on the 2300 block of Ainger Place, SE in 2017.
Everett’s ex-girlfriend told Hewitt’s defense attorney, Nikki Lotze, that she lied to police for the first three hours of her interview because she was, “trying to help herself and others.”
She said she lied because she wanted to protect everyone even though she and Everett broke up weeks prior.
“Even though we weren’t together, I still wanted to protect him. Once you have feelings they just don’t suddenly go away once you break up,” she said.
D.C. Witness previously reported that Everett, his ex-girlfriend and Hewitt contacted Heard in order to buy PCP, a hallucinatory drug, but the prosecution believes the group planned to rob Heard.
Her initial interview with police was played in court where MPD detectives asked her if there was a robbery planned. She told the detectives no for three hours until she admitted a robbery was part of the plan.
“I figured I should help myself out and be honest instead of digging myself into a deeper hole,” she said.
