Witness Corroborates Prosecution’s Theory in Murder Case

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 26, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

During a murder defendant’s trial on July 25, a witness corroborated the prosecution’s theory that a victim could have called someone on the phone moments after being shot.

Gary Proctor, 41, was indicted by a Grand Jury in 2016 on charges of first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a pistol outside a home or business and unlawful possession of ammunition. The charges were for his alleged involvement in the murder of his cousin, 47-year-old Jerome “Beanie” Diggs on July 27, 2015, on the 1300 block of First Street, SW.

The prosecution called a former medical examiner with the Chief Medical Examiner’s office of the District of Columbia as an expert witness. The witness was the one who performed an autopsy on Diggs in 2015.

He described the nature of Diggs’ seven bullet wounds as not being instantly fatal or debilitating. 

The witness’s testimony corroborated the prosecution’s theory that Diggs could have called someone on the phone after he had been shot. 

The witness said that, even with the seven gunshot wounds, Diggs would still have had the ability to crawl to a phone and call someone. The witness said that even though there were seven wounds, only one of them damaged Diggs’  right lung and liver.

D.C. Witness previously reported that Diggs called his sister and told her that their cousin shot him.

As part of the prosecution’s case, Diggs’ daughter also testified about Proctor selling her father drugs on multiple occasions in their house.

The daughter said she witnessed approximately three arguments occur between Diggs and Proctor in the months before Diggs’ death. 

The witness described one argument in particular, which occurred at a family cookout a couple weeks before the murder. Apparently, during the cookout, Proctor, Proctor’s father, and another man engaged in a physical altercation with some of the witness’s family members, including her father.

The trial is scheduled to continue on July 29.