JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The man accused of murdering Navy Chief Petty Officer Andrea Washington in September 2018 says he is “not a bad person” and “especially not a killer.”
In a series of letters obtained by First Coast News, Danny Beard says he was wrongfully arrested for the death of his ex-fiancé. Washington’s body was found in her Northside home two nights after a pinning ceremony for her Navy promotion, and the night before she and Beard were scheduled to appear in domestic violence court.
Washington had obtained a temporary restraining order against Beard after she told police he kicked her in the stomach and held her at gunpoint in early September. The court appearance on Sept. 17, 2018 was to make that restraining order permanent. Beard showed up to court, but Washington did not. Hours later, she was found dead.
Beard has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
In one of three letters to two judges in his case, he writes, “Yes I have done things as a kid, as a teenager, to get me these nine months I been in here, but to kill someone. Hell no that is not my league.”
He tells the judge he is being held in jail simply for “coming to help someone in a time of need,” adding, “it hurt me to wake up here every day knowing I can be out helping my mother and my nieces and nephews for school.”
Beard writes that when he first appeared in court, "I was in fear of being somewhere I didn't supposed to be, but fear is the worst thing you can have."
He adds, “all I care about is honesty and doing God’s will.”
Beard also filed a pro se motion seeking to have his statement to detectives suppressed, saying they continued to interrogate him after he asked for an attorney and said he did not want to talk.
Circuit Judge Meredith Charbula's judicial assistant responded to Beard with a boilerplate letter saying the judge could not communicate with him outside of open court and directed him to contact his attorney.
Beard’s next court date is Nov. 18.