WASHINGTON — The roommate of the woman charged with killing a D.C. lawyer inside a Thomas Circle hotel knew her roommate was planning a robbery and accompanied her to buy zip ties that police say were found at the scene of the fatal stabbing.
Dominique Johnson, 19 of Good Hope Road, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery. Her roommate Jamyra Gallmon, 21, was arrested April 2 on a first-degree murder charge for the death of David Messerschmitt. He was found stabbed multiple times inside a Donovan Hotel room on Feb. 10.
They got away with $40 in cash and Messerschmitt’s SmarTrip card, according to a probable cause affidavit.
A D.C. judge ordered Johnson released under a high intensity supervisor program that includes GPS monitoring. She appeared in court Thursday afternoon and pleaded not guilty.
“(The charging document) doesn’t allege that Ms. Johnson played any direct role or that she had any knowledge that: A) violence was to occur, B) that the co-defendant was armed,” Johnson’s defense attorney Johnathan Zucker said.
Zucker says charging Johnson is a strategic move by prosecutors and isn’t an uncommon tactic to charge a suspect’s family member or significant other.
Johnson told D.C. investigators that she knew Gallmon was planning to commit a robbery and that they had discussed it in January. Johnson told investigators that the robbery was Gallmon’s idea telling Gallmon that it “was crazy and she should not do it,” according to court documents.
On the day of Messerschmitt’s murder, the women went to a CVS/Pharmacy across from the Donovan Hotel where Gallmon purchased brightly colored zip ties. Johnson told police that the zip ties were intended to “scare the robbery victim.”
After leaving the store, Gallmon entered the hotel, where police say she was scheduled to meet with Messerschmitt that evening. The two had exchanged emails after connecting through a Craigslist ad that Messerschmitt had posted, according to court documents.
Investigators say Gallmon stabbed Messerschmitt multiple times including through the heart and liver. His hands were bound together with the zip ties and there was blood on the walls and floor in the hotel room where the two met.
Meanwhile, Johnson waited for Gallmon outside the pharmacy. Afterward, they took a bus home. Johnson says that Gallmon told her the robbery “went bad.”
Johnson says she used Messerschmitt’s SmarTrip card to get to and from work. Records show that the SmarTrip card was used as recently as April 1 — the day before Johnson was interviewed by police and her roommate arrested.
“Assuming it’s true, it proves (Johnson) had a Metro card weeks after the event…it doesn’t establish any involvement in the underlying event,” her attorney said.
Johnson is set to return to court on May 8.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo and Megan Cloherty contributed to this report.
