Road rage or manslaughter? Testimony begins in 2014 case

A Broward judge has already rejected Demetrius Elder’s attempt to exonerate himself of a manslaughter charge using the state’s “stand your ground law.”

But Elder, 43, is still pushing to clear his name by arguing he acted in defense of a friend under attack when he stabbed Fakhradeen Muhammad Knight during a fatal confrontation in Miramar in April 2014.

Prosecutor Patyl Oflazian told a Broward jury Monday that the evidence at Elder’s manslaughter trial will show that he was not justified in his actions.

Knight was a passenger in a car driven by his girlfriend, Wendy Gembolis, who testified on Monday. The two were leaving a party when they stopped behind another vehicle driven by Elder, she said.

What happened next is in dispute. Gembolis said Elder got out at the same time as Elder’s passenger, Armando Baptista, and that Baptista threw an unprovoked punch at Knight. During the fight that followed, according to prosecutors, both Baptista and Elder stabbed Knight, 38, who died a short time later.

But defense lawyers Gabe Ermine and Tamara Curtis placed the confrontation in a different context. According to the defense, Knight’s presence at the party just before the confrontation was no accident.

He had been asked to attend the party specifically to confront Baptista over a fight involving a mutual friend, Ermine said.

“Armando [Baptista] was attacked by the deceased in this case,” Ermine said. Knight had alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and flacca in his blood at the time of his death, Ermine said.