A judge found substantial probability Tuesday in the case against Tsihnik Cavallero, who is accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old Marcus Minor on Jan. 24.
Minor was found shot with six gunshot wounds, including one to the back of the head, in the 1300 block of Stevens Road Southeast at approximately 2:42 p.m. in the afternoon. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
Charging documents say that Minor and Cavallero both sold marijuana and hung out on Stevens Road Southeast. Two witnesses reported seeing Cavallero and Minor arguing moments before the shooting.
According to the documents, both men left the scene when Cavallero addressed Minor after a fist fight between Cavallero and another man known as “Ace.” Documents say that Cavallero asked something to the effect of, “You want to fight me?” Minor responded, “I don’t fight, you know how I go … I’ll be back.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Gabriel Truby testified Monday that Cavallero and Minor were gone for less than 30 minutes before they returned to the scene and engaged in a fatal confrontation.
One witness said Minor was the first to display a gun, Truby said, but he did not point the gun at Cavallero. That witness saw the fight from an “across the street distance”, Truby testified.
Truby clarified Monday that a third witness in the affidavit “did not see the shooting, per se.” Instead, that witness saw an individual wearing a mask fleeing the scene of the shooting.
David Benowitz, Cavallero’s defense attorney, conceded that there was probable cause connecting Cavallero to the shooting. But he argued that the higher threshold of substantial probability was not met because details between some of the witnesses did not match.
Judge Jennifer Anderson found substantial probability and decided to hold Cavallero, noting “the nature and seriousness” of the crime. “Just the facts of it,” Anderson said. “The decedent pulled a gun and put it away.”
The case is scheduled for a status hearing on May 6 at 9:30 a.m.
