There’s probable cause that a Kentucky teacher visiting D.C. for a seminar was killed during a robbery attempt.
Social studies teacher Maxwell Emerson, 25, was in the District with family for a Library of Congress workshop for teachers, when he was shot and killed on the campus of Catholic University the morning of July 5.
Jaime Macedo, 22, of Northwest D.C. — who is also known as Jaime Maceo and Jaime Meceo — has been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder while armed.
On Tuesday, a D.C. Superior Court judge ruled that “probable cause exists that an offense was committed,” court documents said.
Court documents also said that the investigation connected Macedo to the killing through DNA on a ski mask found at the scene. Surveillance footage from various cameras around the area of the shooting showed the suspect wearing a ski mask. Police also spoke with witnesses who provided a description of the suspect.
Police arrested Macedo on Tuesday and obtained a search warrant for a Northeast address where he had been staying. There, they found a cellphone, a tampered GPS ankle monitor that had been “cut up,” court documents said, but they did not “seize any other items that appear to be relevant to the murder.”
Surveillance footage and family statement
In addition to outlining Emerson’s whereabouts leading up to the shooting, investigators gathered surveillance footage from cameras on the university campus, the Metro entrance and nearby intersections.
Emerson’s family members told investigators that they did not know anyone in D.C. and had not spent time with anyone outside of family members while in the District.
On the morning of July 5, a camera by the Brookland-CUA Metro station showed an image of the suspect walking around the top of the escalator.
When Emerson exited the Metro escalator moments later, the person approached him and appeared to ask him for something — possibly money, court documents said. Emerson appeared to take out his wallet and handed the person what appears to be money.
Moments later, another camera showed Emerson walking with his hands raised in what court documents described as a “don’t shoot manner.” The person is seen walking slightly behind Emerson, but next to him.
“The suspect appears to order the decedent to walk next to him as he holds his waist area,” court document said.
Cameras at Catholic University then picked up images of the two men walking onto the campus at around 7:50 a.m. They walked towards an area of benches. Emerson was seen sitting down, while another person picks up his book bag.
A family member told police that Emerson sent a Snapchat at 7:57 a.m. that suggested he was being robbed at gunpoint.
Footage showed a struggle between the two people that ended with Emerson face down at 7:58 a.m. The video surveillance then showed the other person getting up and trying to flee.
D.C. police said they found Emerson, wounded, when responding to a shooting in the 600 block of Alumni Lane in Northeast D.C. shortly after 8 a.m. on July 5.
Emerson was taken to the hospital, where police said he died from a gunshot wound.
Two days after the shooting, police released photos of the suspect taken from surveillance footage. Police received several calls about the suspect, including from officers who said the person in the photos looked like Macedo, whom they had interacted with before.
WTOP’s Dick Uliano contributed to this story.
