In brief:
The death of a man at a Kenilworth Avenue Northeast towing company has been ruled a homicide, bringing the total number of homicides in DC in 2013 to 106. According to charging documents in the case, Kevin Lewis Crouch was struck by a tow truck at the yard after he tried to rob people there. The driver of the tow truck, Corey Stoddard, is suspected of second-degree murder.
In the first homicide of 2014, Claudia Hall, 51, was found dead inside a building in the 300 block of 18th Place Northeast. She had suffered “apparent trauma to her body,” police said in a statement. Alphonso Cleveland, 52, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed in connection with Hall’s death.
Andre Burks, a 26-year-old Southeast DC man, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed in connection with the August 2012 shooting death of Antwan Boseman.
Howard Bruce Randolph, 25, was arrested in connection with the June death of 21-year-old Rayshawn Hailstock. He is suspected of involuntary manslaughter. According to court records, a warrant was issued for him on the charge based on an original indictment from the Grand Jury. He is expected to be arraigned January 7.
The 2009 shooting death of Southeast DC man Michael George Colbert was closed Tuesday with the arrest of 30-year-old Quinn Johnson, also of Southeast DC. Johnson is suspected of first-degree murder while armed, police said.
Dion Redwood, 39, of District Heights, Maryland was arrested in connection with the April shooting death of DC teen Darius Cannon. Redwood is expected to be charged with first-degree murder while armed.
One year into an on-again-off-again hunger strike, murder defendant Albrecht Muth is preparing for a trial that he insisted would never happen by chewing food that meets his “dietary regimen.” Muth is charged with the death of his wife Viola Drath, who was killed in August 2011. The trial has been delayed in part because of Muth’s prolonged fast, but on Thursday Judge Russell reaffirmed his intention to try Muth on January 6.
The first Comment of the Day of 2014 came from PoPO, who wrote: “I was a police officer in your city. A big white boy from the country. I drove a pickup truck and voted republican every election since I was 18. And Guess what? My heart hurt like hell EVER TIME I saw so many of these people laying face down in the street or had to hear their last words.I worked South East in the seventh district.
We looked back at 2013 with Homicide Watch DC’s Year in Review. Features include an interview with MPD Chief Cathy Lanier, a look at the ten cases that captured our attention this year, guest columns from Councilmember Jim Graham and Kia Dupree Joppy, sister of community activist Timothy Dawkins, the year in numbers, an interview with US Attorney Ronald Machen, a look at the year’s dismissed cases and more. Read the 2013 Year in Review here.
