Witness says he doesn’t believe defendant is the alleged shooter

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 5, 2017
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

The barber who cut Breond Keys’ hair the day he was murdered testified the 38-year-old said he wanted to turn his life around, just minutes before he was fatally shot.

Keys was shot on Oct. 10, 2014 on the 1400 block of Good Hope Road, SE. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Antwon Green is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly murdering Keys and is being held without bail.

The barber testified that while he was walking to the barber shop on the day of the shooting, he had waved to Keys on the street less than an hour before Keys came inside.

When Keys arrived at the barber shop, the barber said he was more talkative than usual. Keys talked with another employee of the barber shop about Keys’ son, since the employee also happened to coach his son.

Keys said he needed to straighten out his life so his son could follow in his footsteps, according to the barber.

On cross examination from the defense, the barber said Keys was a regular customer who came every Friday for six months and was not usually very talkative. He said he had always felt tension with Keys, and that Keys was acting sneaky that day.

The barber didn’t notice the shooter until shots rang out, and didn’t see the shooter’s face because he was trying to get away from the shots.

He testified that he doesn’t believe Green is the alleged shooter responsible for the death of Keys because he’s known Green for many years and Green has come to the barber shop for haircuts in the past. The barber said Keys and Green also saw each other on the day of the shooting.

The defense showed video footage from the front of the barber shop, showing Green and another person walking past the building and waving inside. Video footage taken from the inside of the barber shop shows Keys in the barber chair acknowledging Green, who was outside the barber shop.