Trial for Mitchellville music producer's slaying set to begin
Jury selection scheduled to begin again after eight postponements
After eight postponements, the trial of a 24-year-old Landover man indicted for the murder of a Mitchellville music producer in 2006 is scheduled to begin with jury selection Monday, nearly four years to the day of the murder.
The three-week trial was delayed for the eighth time in May after the defense requested additional DNA testing evidence, which Prince George's County Circuit Court Judge C. Philip Nichols Jr. granted.
Defense attorneys for Jamaal Alexis filed a motion in April asking for retesting of a black nylon skullcap allegedly worn by the defendant's brother in what prosecutors allege was a related homicide.
Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D), declined to comment about the DNA results because the case is ongoing.
Jamaal Alexis, who faces life without parole, was indicted July 31, 2009, on murder charges for the Oct. 13, 2006, death of Raymond Brown, 36, known in the music industry as "Scottie Beats." Alexis is accused of towing Brown's Chrysler 300 sedan from Brown's home, then shooting and killing Brown as he approached the tow truck.
Alexis also will be tried for murder and retaliation for testimony for the October 2008 deaths of Bobby Ennels, 22, of Capitol Heights an alleged accomplice in Brown's murder who was expected to testify against Alexis as a witness for the prosecution and Ennels' friend Anthony Cash III, 22, of Capitol Heights. They were found shot dead in a car in Landover, along with a 16-year-old girl who was also shot but survived.
Alexis is accused of arranging from jail to have Ennels killed by his brother, Rashadd Alexis, 22, of Landover.
In August 2009, Judge Nichols ruled that prosecutors can present to the jury the testimony Ennels gave before his death.
At the center of the DNA retesting is a skullcap the county forensics unit recovered near the scene of the October 2008 deaths. Rashadd Alexis was arrested on June 30, 2009, after investigators matched saliva on the cap to his, according to charging documents filed in Prince George's County District Court.
Rashadd Alexis was indicted July 31, 2009, on 10 counts, including murder, first-degree assault and retaliation for testimony, among other charges, according to court documents.
Elizabeth Cawood of The Law Offices of Thomas and Cawood in Bowie and one of two representing Jamaal Alexis, said Monday that she looks forward to proving Jamaal Alexis' innocence during the trial.
Cawood declined to comment on the DNA results.
Rashadd Alexis' attorney, Peter Fayne of Rosenberg and Fayne LLP based in Riverdale, did not respond to requests for comment.
Danielle Steele Brown, 37, Raymond Brown's widow, said she is nervous about the upcoming trial.
"I'm nervous but I'm glad it's finally coming. [I'm] just really nervous there are a lot of angry families," Steele Brown said. "I've been through this cycle eight times before. I don't know if my husband will ever see justice and it doesn't bring him back. Even when [Raymond] gets justice, which I believe he will, I don't know how I'll feel afterward. I don't know if it'll bring my closure. It destroyed our marriage and my family."
Raymond Brown was killed three months after the couple married.
eskalski@gazette.net.