Witness Says a Fight Ended in Silence in 2018 Homicide

By Izabella Apodaca [former] - November 20, 2023
Daily Stories | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

At a Nov. 17 hearing before DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt, a witness who was at the scene of a homicide testified that an altercation between two individuals ended in silence.

Marquette Jordan, 32, is charged with second-degree murder while armed, assault, and carrying a dangerous weapon outside of a home or business with a prior felony for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 40-year-old Ivan Lynch that occurred on April 30, 2018, on the 900 block of Fifth Street, SE. 

The prosecution called a friend of Jordan’s that was present the night of the murder. Jordan picked her up along with two other men, a woman and two children. She stated that they were all hanging out at an apartment when an argument occurred between Jordan and his girlfriend.

One man told Jordan “You don’t talk to ladies like that,” and the pair began arguing, yelling, and fighting. The witness stated she grabbed the two children and faced them towards the wall and covered their eyes and ears.

Once it got quiet she grabbed her things and as she exited the apartment she saw a light-skin male on the floor, another other male sitting on the couch, and did not know where Jordan was. She later learned the light-skin male was dead.

Defense counsel asked the witness to describe the fight. She stated that she never saw a knife and that the lighter-skin male was significantly taller and heavier than Jordan. She explained “I don’t know how the light-skinned male ended up on the floor.”

The prosecution also called an individual from the company that manages security systems for the elementary school where Jordan was allegedly seen walking on the night of the murder. The video displayed an individual identified as Jordan, walking along the outside of the school with two children.  

The prosecution called an investigator with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) who stopped Jordan while he was walking with the two children. The investigator stated she saw Jordan and the two children but “did not think anything of it.” She then stated she locked eyes with Jordan and he “took off walking fast and then running.”

According to the investigator she then received a “look out” for an individual that matched Jordan’s description. She explained she made a U-turn to relocate the individual and stopped him along the sidewalk.  At that point he was unable to confirm the identity of the children and he falsely gave his name as “Markeet Jonson.”

The investigator stated that Jordan did not have any visible injuries but she noticed blood on his pants. 

Consistent with police body-worn camera footage from that night and the investigator’s testimony, Jordan refused to give any names, phone numbers, or addresses of whom he was with that night.

In the footage, Jordan stated that the children came running out of the elevator so he took them outside the building and stopped the police. However, the investigator testified that at no time did Jordan ever attempt to flag her down. 

During cross-examination by defense counsel, Michael Bruckheim, the investigator was asked about the children’s state of being, and she stated the children were not initially crying, and there was no blood found on the children’s clothes.

Bruckheim also asked about the explanation that Jordan gave for the blood on his pants. She responded Jordan told her someone tried to hurt his girlfriend and “he tried to pull a knife on her.”

The prosecution responded by asking the investigator if Jordan detailed the injuries his Jordan’s girlfriend sustained and the officer said no.

Parties are set to return Nov. 20 to resume witness testimony.