Lamont Warren | Homicide Watch DC

Patricia Cave Found "Not Guilty" in Domestic Violence Homicide Case

Lindsey Anderson — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:51:43 -0400

Patricia Cave was found "not guilty" of manslaughter while armed today in the stabbing death of her on-again-off-again boyfriend Lamont Warren.

Cave's defense attorneys had argued that Cave was a victim of domestic violence and the June 2011 stabbing was in self-defense.

Before the jury returned from deliberations, Judge Robert Morin reminded the audience to display no emotion once the verdict was read, and Cave showed only a hint of a smile after the reading.

Once the jury filed out of the courtroom, Cave thanked the judge and walked into arms of the dozen or so supporters who had silently shed tears of joy and gasped at the verdict.

"Thank you, Jesus," Cave said, with tears in her eyes.

Jury Deliberations Begin on Domestic Violence Homicide Case

Laura Amico — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:00:18 -0400

A jury of six men and six women began deliberations late Wednesday afternoon on whether or not a Northeast DC grandmother is culpable of manslaughter in the stabbing death of her on-again-off-again boyfriend.

Patricia Cave's defense attorney argued for the second day Wednesday that Cave stabbed Lamont Warren in the chest in self-defense.

Prosecutor Charles Cobb mocked that theory in front of the jury in his closing arguments.

"'Oops! It slipped!,'" he said, gesturing in a stabbing motion to his own chest and opening his eyes up large.

"[Cave] exercised her 'Double-O' certificate, her license to kill," Cobb said. "Except she didn't have a license to kill."

Jurors have been tasked with deciding not whether Cave killed Warren but if she acted in self-defense.

Star defense witness Dr. Lenore Walker, an international expert in the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on battered women, testified Wednesday that Cave exhibited symptoms of severe PTSD and that she was a victim of domestic violence.

According to the government's evidence in the case, Warren showed up on Cave's doorstep the night of June 2 with gifts of cigarrettes, beer, and vodka, despite the fact that Cave had a court order requiring him to stay away from her and her home. Cave opened the door. When Warren asked if he could lie down, Cave instructed him to go back to the bedroom.

In the video-taped statement Cave told detectives that Warren wouldn't move over to make room for her when she came to bed and that when she told him it was her bed he began berating her, leading to a physical altercation on the bed. Cave said that when Warren grabbed at her throat, strangling her she grabbed a knife from her nightstand. The two tussled, then Warren sat up and said that she had stabbed him.

A District medical examiner testified that Warren died of a stab wound to his chest. She said the blade was stuck three inches deep into his chest, striking his heart. He died of his injuries that day.

Dr. Walker, who issued the expert opinion that Cave was a victim of domestic violence, said that it would not have been atypical for a domestic violence victim to open the door to their abuser, as Cave did.

"She had both the positive and negative with him," Walker said, adding that at times Warren was very loving with Cave. "She wanted to believe he would stop his abusive behavior and he'd understand he'd be in trouble if he abused her again."

Going to the claim of self-defense, Walker testified that, when the fight began, Cave likely perceived a strong danger, based on previous patterns of abuse at Warren's hands.

Defense attorney Santha Sonnenberg said Cave's fear, and claim to self-defense, was and is legitimate.

"Her fear of Mr. Warren was reasonable," Sonnenberg said. "He'd attacked her before. He'd choked her before. He'd bruised her before. He'd threatened to kill her before. The first aggressor is Mr. Warren, going at her throat."

But Cobb asked the jury to believe that, in the particular disagreement that left Warren dead, Cave was the aggressor.

"He was minding his own you-know-what business," Cobb said of Warren. "But like bothering the 'gator in Florida, she starts messing with him about bed space."

Cave is charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter. In order to find her guilty, jurors must unanimously agree that Cave caused Warren's death, that she intended to kill or injure him, that she did not act in self-defense, and that she was armed with a knife.

Deliberations are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.

Patricia Cave Argues Self-Defense in Stabbing Death of Boyfriend

Laura Amico — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:54:23 -0400

Relying mostly on a video taped statement that Patricia Cave gave to homicide detectives after her boyfriend, Lamont Warren, was stabbed in the heart, the government presented its case to a jury today, the first day of testimony in Cave's trial on a charge of voluntary manslaughter.

"I have nothing to hide," Cave says in the video. "I didn't even know he was stabbed."

Prosecutors say that Cave, who had a tumultuous on-again-off-again relationship with Warren, allowed him into her home the night of June 2 because he brought her cigarettes, beer and vodka. Prosecutor Charles Cobb told the jury in opening statements that those items were "the price of admission" for Warren, who had been ordered to stay-away from the apartment, to enter Cave's home.

But from the defense table, Cave shook her head "no," while Cobb told this to the jury and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue when Cobb told the jury that Cave had told Warren to go lie down on her bed in the one-bedroom apartment then, hours later, stabbed Warren while he lay flat on his back in that bed.

In the video-taped statement Cave told detectives that Warren wouldn't move over to make room for her when she came to bed and that when she told him it was her bed he began berating her, leading to a physical altercation on the bed. During the fight she grabbed a knife from her nightstand, the two tussled, then Warren sat up and said that she had stabbed him.

Cave's attorney, Santha Sonnenberg, didn't dispute that Cave stabbed Warren. But the stabbing, she told the jury, was in self-defense.

Sonnenberg said Warren, who had alcohol and cocaine in his blood at the time of his death, was also diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and, according a veteran's hospital, had thought about killing people. She said according to his court records, he had assaulted a Prince George's County police officer and, in Baltimore, dragged a woman down a flight of stairs and hit her with a belt.

A neighbor of Cave's testified that she was aware of Cave and Warren fighting on three prior occasions and that she had seen bruises on Cave that she attributed to Warren.

Sonnenberg said Warren's death was "tragic; as any loss of life is. But Ms. Cave only did as much as the law allows. She defended herself."

Cobb rested the government's case at about 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and the defense called one witness-- the neighbor-- before the court recessed for the evening. The trial is expected to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Trial Postponed in Patricia Cave Case

Laura Amico — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:40:13 -0400

A jury trial in the case of a woman suspected of fatally stabbing her former boyfriend has been postponed until next month.

Patricia Cave was due to stand trial today on a charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed.

According to charging documents in the case, Cave told detectives that on June 2 another argument with her boyfriend, Lamont Warren, turned physical. Cave picked up the phone to call 911, but Warren slapped the phone out of her hand, she said. Then, when Warren grabbed her around the neck, she grabbed a knife that was near the bed, Cave said, motioning stabbing movements to detectives.

The trial date change is the second in the case; a Feb. 21 trial date was vacated and replaced with March 22. The trial is now scheduled for April 9.

One Month Delay in Trial for Woman Accused of Killing Boyfriend

Laura Amico — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:19:51 -0500

Patricia Cave will wait another five weeks before her trial on the charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed, after her defense counsel today told Judge Ronna Beck that she wouldn't have the case ready in time for trial.

The trial was set for Feb. 21; it is now scheduled for March 19.

Cave is charged in the death of her boyfriend, Lamont Warren, who was fatally stabbed in June 2011. According to charging documents, Cave told detectives that she had a tumultuous relationship with Warren, that they frequently fought, and he had been arrested for assaulting her. She told police that when yet another disagreement turned physical on June 2, she picked up the phone to call 911, but Warren slapped the phone out of her hand and grabbed her around the neck. She said she grabbed a knife that was near the bed and motioned stabbing movements to detectives.

Prosecutor Charles Cobb said that Cave's statement is the "main evidence" in the case against her.

Cave's defense attorney, Santha Sonenberg, asked Judge Beck to delay the trial date because the defense's investigation is continuing, with new information being developed as recently as Tuesday morning.

Cobb and Sonesnberg agreed that the case would likely be a one-week trial.

"Not Guilty" Plea in Death of Boyfriend During Fight

Laura Amico — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:54:14 -0400

Patricia Cave pleaded "not guilty" today to a charge that she fatally stabbed her boyfriend during a fight.

Cave, who turned 50 this month, was indicted by the Grand Jury on a voluntary manslaughter charge in the case. She was arrested on June 2 on suspicion of second-degree murder.

According to charging documents in the case, Cave told detectives that on June 2 another argument with her boyfriend, Lamont Warren, turned physical. Cave picked up the phone to call 911, but Warren slapped the phone out of her hand, she said. Then, when Warren grabbed her around the neck, she grabbed a knife that was near the bed, Cave said, motioning stabbing movements to detectives.

Cave was released from custody following her presentment on the charge in June and she remained on release even after her preliminary hearing.

But today, with evidence that Cave had been using cocaine while on release, Judge Lynn Leibovitz ordered her placed in the custody of a halfway house.

A trial was set for Feb. 21, but both sides are due back before Judge Leibovitz for a status hearing on Dec. 14.

Fight Over Bed Led to Fatal Stabbing between Partners with Domestic Violence History, Prosecutors Allege

Laura Amico — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:18:51 -0400

To detectives, Patricia Ann Cave described a tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend. The pair fought frequently, she said, and he had been arrested for assaulting her. When yet another disagreement turned physical on June 2, Cave picked up the phone to call 911, but her boyfriend slapped the phone out of her hand. Shortly after, Cave's boyfriend, Lamont Warren, was dead.

"That bitch stabbed me... call 911," Warren pleaded with a neighbor before he walked out of the apartment building and collapsed.

That's according to charging documents citing a video interview Cave recorded for MPD homicide detectives after Warren died.

Cave, 49, is being held on a second-degree murder charge pending a preliminary hearing July 12.

According to charging documents, Cave and Warren, 36, had been in a romantic relationship since October 2010. Court records support Cave's assertion that the relationship was rife with arguments, though: in April Warren pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge of simple assault. He was sentenced to 120 days incarceration, one year of probation and ordered to stay away from Cave.

According to charging documents, Cave initially wouldn't let Warren in when he knocked on her apartment door the night he was killed. But she said she changed her mind, let him in, and the pair "had some drinks."

Later, when Warren said he was tired, Cave said she told him to lie down in the bedroom. When she later followed him to bed she saw him sprawled across the bed, which irritated her, she said. She jockeyed for a position in the bed and asked him to move. The two fought and their verbal altercation escalated to a physical one. When Warren grabbed her around the neck, she grabbed a knife that was near the bed, Cave said, motioning stabbing movements to detectives.

Patricia Cave Arrested in Overnight NE DC Stabbing Death

Laura Amico — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:34:09 -0400

A 49-year-old woman was arrested this morning on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 36-year-old man in Northeast DC overnight.

Lamont Warren was found in 700 block of 24th Street, NE suffering from a stab wound at about 1 a.m. Thursday morning. Patricia Ann Cave was arrested three and a half hours later, on suspicion of second-degree murder.

MPD's press release is after the jump.

June 2, 2011

Arrest made in the Homicide of Lamont Warren

(Washington, DC)- Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch have announced an arrest in the homicide of 36-year-old Lamont Warren.

On Thursday, June 2, 2011, at approximately 1:05 am, units from the Fifth District responded to the 700 block of 24th Street, NE, to investigate a stabbing. Upon their arrival, they discovered an unconscious male victim suffering from a stab wound. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded and transported the victim to a local area hospital. At 1:40 pm the victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

The decedent has been identified as 36 year-old Lamont Warren of NE, Washington, DC.

On Thursday, June 02, 2011, at approximately 4:30 am, 49-year-old Patricia Ann Cave of Northeast, Washington, DC, was arrested and charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed in the stabbing death of Lamont Warren.

Man Stabbed to Death Early Thursday Morning in NE DC

Laura Amico — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:32:34 -0400

The Washington Post and WUSA are reporting this morning that a man was stabbed to death overnight in Northeast DC.

According to the reports, police were called to the 700 block of 24th Street at about 1:00 am Thursday morning. A man with a stab wound to the chest was transported to a local hospital, but he died of his injuries.