COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today marked the beginning of a groundbreaking federal gender-based hate crime trial, focusing on the August 4, 2019, murder of LaDime Doe known as "Dime", a transgender woman in Allendale County.
Daqua Ritter is charged in the fatal shooting of "Dime".
The prosecution's opening statement outlined their intention to prove Ritter guilty of three charges: murder, use of a firearm to commit a violent crime, and misleading state investigators.
They emphasized that Doe was shot three times in the head and left unresponsive for hours before being discovered.
The prosecution asserted that Ritter's alleged motive was to silence Doe due to fears of rumors and gossip about their relationship in the small town of Allendale.
In contrast, the defense presented their opening statements framing the case as a "whodunnit" and not one of "sex." They maintained Ritter's innocence, citing discrepancies in witness testimony and the lack of direct evidence linking him to the crime.
Throughout the afternoon, the Department of Justice called four witnesses to testify.
Allendale County Sheriff James Freeman recounted his response to the scene where Doe was found, describing her as unresponsive in a vehicle parked at an abandoned home. South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) was called in to investigate.
Prosecutors reiterated their argument that Ritter's motive was to conceal his relationship with Doe, pointing to alleged efforts to dispose of evidence, including the murder weapon and clothing.
Lawrence Wiggins, now the Chief of Police in Allendale, was the lead case agent investigator for SLED. He testified he was the first SLED agent to arrive on the scene where he said he learned of “Dime” and Ritter's relationship. Once he learned “Dime” had been pulled over earlier in the afternoon for speeding, he requested and examined the body camera footage. In his testimony, he noted the jeans and the tattoos of the individual in the passenger seat were distinctive.
Wiggins says that evening they went to the residence of Ritter’s grandmother, to speak with Ritter. An hour-long conversation started on the front porch and then Ritter and Wiggins moved inside. It was all filmed on body camera footage.
The footage shows that Ritter denies ever being with "Dime" all day, but then he concedes that he was in the back passenger seat at some point in the day, but denies being in the car for the traffic stop.
In the footage, agents asked him to provide them with the clothes he was wearing earlier in the day. He brought them to SLED agents but they said the jeans didn’t look the same as the ones in the body camera footage, but the tattoos on his hand matched.
Wiggins said they obtained a warrant to search his grandmother’s residence on August 5 for the clothes, but they did not conduct the search.
In cross-examination the defense was trying to establish why it took Ritter several times to tell the truth and questioned why Ritter would want to tell the truth after Wiggins said most people in small towns don’t want to tell the truth to law enforcement.
As cross-examination concluded for the day, Wiggins is expected to resume his testimony Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.
The trial could last up to 10 days.