Jury selection is underway in the trial of a man accused in the near-fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend in Fairfax County, just days after she got a protective order against him.
The young mother survived but was left so badly injured she can hardly speak and may not be able to testify against him.
Only on 4, News4 obtained video evidence investigators hope will prove their case.
A trauma surgeon said the 25-year-old was clinically dead when she was rushed to the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus last year. She had been shot several times, and her wounds make it difficult for her to speak even now.
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But prosecutors will be able to rely on video evidence from right after the shooting to help identify the violent attacker.
Police body camera video from the morning of Feb. 7, 2023, shows officers responding to a call about gunshots at the Mallard Court Apartments, in the Mount Vernon area.
Officers discovered the victim lying on a patio, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. As officers jumped into action to treat her injuries, they asked her what happened.
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In police body camera video, she can be heard whispering as an officer asks, “Your son’s father shot you?”
Though barely able to speak, prosecutors say the video reveals the victim provided a name. An officer testified she picked up three letters: C, N and S.
As the victim was rushed to the hospital, investigators discovered just three days earlier, she got a protective order against Collins Agyei, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her toddler, accusing him of sexual assault. She asked News4 to protect her identity.
In search warrant documents, investigators describe the evidence they gathered. They write the apartment security camera shows Agyei approach the victim outside the apartment and follow her inside.
She was seen running down the stairs, falling down in the parking lot and running toward the patio, where she fell again, the detective wrote.
“The surveillance footage shows the male suspect walk to where [the] victim was laying and point what appears to be a firearm at the victim,” the detective said.
The victim’s cellphone was recording, the detective said.
“Collins Agyei is seen wearing black latex gloves … and holding a firearm pointed at [the] victim. She can be heard saying the name ‘Collins’ multiple times in the video,” the detective said.
“The video records what sounds like a struggle. Victim drops her phone … six loud banging sounds, similar to a gun being fired, can be heard,” the documents say.
The victim was hospitalized from February until May. A detective made a video when she was recently back in the hospital for more surgery to show how difficult it still is for her to speak.
“Is that your humidifier for your trach?” the detective asks on video.
“To keep it moist so I can breathe in,” the victim manages to say.
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Over the objections of defense attorneys, the judge ruled if the victim is unable to testify to identify her alleged attacker, prosecutors can use the police body camera video in which she appears to say the name “Collins.”
Jury selection is set to continue Tuesday. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
