A DC man suspected of killing his wife in DC’s first homicide of 2014 was ordered held Monday at his first court appearance on the charge.
Alphonso Cleveland, 51, faces a charge of second-degree murder while armed. His wife, Claudia Hall, 51, was fatally stabbed.
Hall was found by police January 3 around 2:20 p.m. in her apartment on the 300 block of 18th Place Northeast.
Charging documents allege that Cleveland stabbed Hall during an argument over a cable bill.
According to those documents, witnesses told police that more than a week before Hall was found dead, she had kicked Cleveland out of the apartment they shared because he had not payed bills he had agreed to pay.
One witness told police that one day before Hall’s body was found, they saw Cleveland banging on Hall’s apartment door demanding to be let in, documents state.
Another witness told police that when they went to check on Hall at her apartment both doors to the home were locked and a folding chair was wedged up against one door, which prevented the door from opening freely, charging documents state.
The witness forcibly entered the residence and found Hall lying on her bed unconscious and not breathing. Police found blood on a knife handle in a open kitchen closet, and blood on the wall and the floor of the kitchen, charging documents state.
Cleveland is scheduled for a preliminary hearing January 21 with Judge Robert Morin.
Charging documents are below.
