The prosecution called a witness who identified the defendant as the suspect in a homicide case to the stand before DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on March 25.
Jaime Macedo, 24, is charged with first-degree felony murder while armed, attempt to commit robbery while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Maxwell Emerson on the 600 block of Alumni Lane, NE on July 5, 2023.
The prosecution called a witness who knew Macedo personally and identified him t authorities. She said that, upon seeing a flyer on Instagram with a picture of the suspect, she was “99% sure” that the suspect was Macedo, based on the suspect’s face, stature, hair, and the Crocs shoes he wore.
According to the acquaintance, she knew Macedo because her best friend is dating Macedo’s older brother. She said she has known his family since 2011.
The acquaintance subsequently called a homicide tip line at the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and provided the information she knew about Macedo, later having an in-person meeting with detectives. The jury was shown video footage of this meeting, in which the acquaintance identified a person said to be Macedo in multiple images.
She then pointed to Macedo in court, identifying him as the person in the pictures she saw.
Another eyewitness, a construction worker testified he saw the aftermath of the shooting from a nearby rooftop where he was working. He, through a translator, described the moment he heard the gunshot and, looking up, saw a man lying on the ground while another man picked up a weapon and ran away.
The eyewitness said in body-worn camera footage to officers on the scene that he could not confidently say the weapon was a gun, instead describing it as a “black thing.” However, he insisted in front of Judge Kravitz that it was, in fact, a gun and claimed to have said it was a “black weapon” to the responding officers on the day of the shooting.
The eyewitness also testified that the man he observed running away from the scene was dressed in all black and tennis shoes.
During the eyewitness’ testimony about what he saw the suspect holding, a translation issue resulted in the interpreter’s being replaced.
The eyewitness utilized the word “escuadra,” referring to the triangle shape of the weapon he saw. In an attempt to explain, the interpreter described this as a weapon with a clip, prompting Judge Kravitz to determine that a new interpreter was necessary.
Judge Kravitz instructed the jury to ignore parts of the original translator’s testimony, saying that she used her own explanation, and reminded the new interpreter that, “What I expect you to do is simply translate…verbatim without editorializing.”
On cross-examination, Macedo’s attorney, Jessica Willis, noted that the eyewitness originally told MPD officers on scene that the suspect was white. He confirmed that he believed that the man running away from the scene was white, not Hispanic, saying, “He was as white as this sheet of paper.” The eyewitness said that he beleived this description based on the hair color and skin color of the man he observed.
Another witness was an officer at the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA). Due to previous defense motions to preclude previous conviction information about Macedo for the jury, the prosecution had the officer omit his job title and very vaguely describe his duties.
The officer stated that he arrived at Macedo’s residence for a meeting between 7:45 a. m. and 8 a. m. the morning of the incident. However, Macedo wasn’t there, and the officer waited in his car for him to arrive. The officer stated that he noticed Macedo was sweaty when he arrived for the meeting at around 8:30 a. m., and that he was wearing a black t-shirt and shorts.
Prosecutors asked the officer about Macedo’s demeanor, which the officer described as “normal, calm.” The officer testified that Macedo claimed he was coming back from seeing a friend, which is why he was late to the meeting.
During cross examination, Willis confirmed with the officer that the interaction between him and Macedo lasted around five minutes.
A surveillance footage custodian testified and, during his testimony, he stated that he pulled footage from cameras surrounding the area where he worked and provided the footage to MPD. Prosecutors showed screenshots and some short clips from the footage for the court.
Prosecutors claimed that the footage captured Macedo’s trip to the Brookland-CUA Metro station before the incident occurred.
During questioning, prosecutors asked the video custodian to identify the streets in the footage as well as the direction the camera was facing. In one of the clips, a man was captured taking his pants off, revealing shorts underneath. According to court documents, the man was identified as the suspect by MPD.
Another witness was a campus police officer at the Catholic University of America, who testified to pulling the unconscious victim from a bush and administering CPR. He also said he looked in the victim’s wallet to find any medical cards or signs of affiliation with the university to find an explanation for the victim’s condition.
He stated he didn’t do anything further with the wallet when questioned by prosecutors.
A crime scene investigator from the Department of Forensic Science (DFS) also testified. The investigator retrieved physical evidence including a phone with a purple case, a book bag, broken glasses, and an airpod. Prosecutors also had the investigator identify and show the jury Emerson’s clothing that was retrieved from the hospital after he was brought in for treatment.
Due to time constraints, the officer was not able to finish her testimony, and it was continued to the next day.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on March 26.
