Gary Niles Montgomery pleaded innocent Friday at his arraignment on a charge of first-degree murder while armed in the stabbing death of Japarker Deoni Jones.
Jones, 23, died on Feb. 2 from a stab wound to the face that penetrated her skull.
Montgomery, 55, was arrested in February after a witness told police that Montgomery was the man shown on a surveillance recording of the incident that aired on local news channels.
The recording shows a man and Jones waiting at a bus stop in the 4900 block of East Capitol Street Northeast. One witness, who was present moments before the incident took place, identified Montgomery from a photograph lineup as the man sitting next to Jones, according to charging documents.
After the man is seen following Jones off-camera, and then back into the camera’s view, he strikes Jones once in the head and then picks up what detectives believe to be Jones’s purse.
Witnesses on scene attempted to apprehend the man, but were unable to.
Another witness contacted police after seeing the video on the news and identified Montgomery by his beard and limp. Prosecutors say Montgomery was a panhandler who had been living in the basement of a house on 44th Street Northeast, according to charging documents.
Witnesses reported that Montgomery appeared to be under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident, according to charging documents.
