The trial in a non-fatal shooting near the Columbia Heights Metro Station continued with witnesses from both parties in DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson’s courtroom on July 16.
Demann Shelton, 32, is charged with three counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with significant bodily injury while armed, seven counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction.
The charges stem from Shelton’s alleged involvement in a non-fatal shooting on Nov. 9, 2020, on the 3000 block of 14th Street, NW, in which the suspect allegedly aimed a gun at a group of five people, then opened fire. One individual sustained a gunshot wound to their right wrist.
The case was initially dropped a month after the shooting, but was reopened in February 2024, after new DNA evidence was found from a face mask allegedly tying Shelton to the shooting. By that time, evidence collected from initial investigations had been partially destroyed or lost.
Before the hearing, the prosecution disclosed that they had found additional CCTV footage that they had previously told the court did not exist.
Shelton’s defense attorneys, Emma Mlyneic and Emily Sufrin, asked Judge Dayson to impose sanctions punishing the prosecution for their multiple alleged failures to disclose evidence. Judge Dayson has not yet decided on the motion.
Meanwhile, the prosecution called a witness who alerted officers to a gun that had been discarded in a storm drain while people were fleeing the shooting.
The witness told prosecutors that the suspect holding the gun was wearing a white T-shirt and black pants. After she was allowed to review a record of her initial statement, she said he had short hair and wore a black jacket, black pants, and a black mask.
During cross-examination, Mlyneic and Sufrin challenged the witness on whether she had seen the gun.
“It was a gun. I know what a gun looks like,” she said.
Mlyneic played body-worn camera footage from an officer on the scene who had initially interviewed the witness. In the footage, the witness said she had seen “something” being discarded by the suspect but did not specifically mention a gun. When questioned by officers, the witness said she did not know what the object was.
“It’s been four and a half years., I can barely remember anything that happened,” the witness said when confronted with the inconsistencies in her statements.
The defense called an officer for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to testify about his investigation of the Columbia Heights Metro Station Plaza on the day of the incident. The officer said he approached the scene of the incident, wearing a body-worn camera, after hearing a series of gunshots. He briefly spoke with a group of individuals who said that they had been under fire
In cross-examination, the officer testified that he did not see the shooting as it happened. He had been across the street in an apartment building when he heard several loud shots that drew him to the scene.
Parties are slated to reconvene on July 17.
