Kieva Lynette Hooks | Homicide Watch DC

Kieva Hooks Admitted To Stabbing Her Mother 37 Times

Timothy Ryan — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 20:40:38 -0400

Kieva Hooks admitted to police that she cut her mother 37 times, inflicting 21 stab wounds during an early-morning argument inside their Columbia Heights apartment.

Tajuana Hooks, according to testimony heard Monday, called out, "no Kie, no," as it happened.

Judge Robert Richter used that piece of information, which came from a post-arrest interview with Kieva Hooks, to find probable cause that the 30-year-old woman killed her mother on July 31.

Police found Tajuana Hooks, 54, dead in the apartment after Kieva Hooks caught the attention of officers near the intersection of 13th street and Columbia Road Northwest shortly after 5 a.m.

Defense attorney Kia Sears argued her client acted in self-defense that morning. She asked MPD Detective Hosam Nasr, testifying for the prosecution, if there were signs of a struggle in the apartment where police found Tajuana. Nasr said the apartment was in disarray, but that he couldn't say if this was due to a fight.

One officer described Hooks' behavior at the time as "highly disoriented," while another said she was in a state of shock while she was at Howard University Hospital, Nasr said Monday.

At the hospital, Hooks told a nurse that she and her mother both had knives, though Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy suggested Hooks' could have been referring to a previous incident involving Hooks and the father of her child.

A nurse did identify cuts to Hooks' body and a police officer saw a cut on Hooks' neck after the murder, according to Nasr. But Hooks told Nasr she made the wounds herself and never said anyone else caused them.

Judge Richter ordered Hooks held, despite her otherwise clear record, because of the past drug use she alluded to, as well as the severity of the crime.

Hooks is scheduled for a felony status conference on October 10.

Murder Suspect Tells Police She "Had To Off" Her Mother

Imari Williams — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 22:38:10 -0400

When police found Kieva Hooks at the intersection of 13th street and Columbia Road Northwest, she was crying and barefoot, with cuts to her wrist and neck. When asked what was wrong, Hooks told police she was "having problems with her parents."

"They are doing crazy things," she said.

In a later interview with police, Hooks, 30, admitted to police that she fatally stabbed her mother, Tajauna Lynn Hooks.

Hooks was held Friday on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed. She was arrested Thursday.

Police found Tajauna Hooks unconscious and unresponsive in the 1300 block of Columbia Road Northwest on July 31.

Judge Karen Howze said it remains unclear what went on before Tajauna Hooks' death, but she said Kieva Hooks' confession to using PCP was concerning.

Hooks told police that her parents trapped her in the basement and that she was just trying to get away, charging documents say.

Hooks had wounds on her neck and wrist, according to police. She said she'd used a kitchen knife to cut herself in the bathroom, because she felt "bad about what I did to my mom, and I feel bad for my daughter."

Hooks said she had a fight with her mother, according to charging documents. Something was happening to her in the house that shouldn't have been, she told police, and she had a "feeling" her mother had been "touching" her daughter, according to court documents.

Hooks admitted to police that she killed her mother and had used two knives, according to documents. She described the knives as a "brown pocket knife" and a "regular kitchen knife."

She told police she put the knives in the bathroom after she used them, and that, "I had to off her."

During Hooks' presentment Friday, an unidentified man yelled, "I love you Sis, remember that," as he was escorted out of the courtroom during Hooks arraignment.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 11 before Judge Rhonda Reid Winston.

Charging documents are below:

Tajuana Lynn Hooks Killed in NW D.C., Police Arrest Keiva Hooks

Megan Arellano — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 08:42:25 -0400

A 54-year-old woman found dead early Thursday morning when police responded to a call for an aggravated assault, MPD said Thurday.

The woman, identified by police as Tajuana Lynn Hooks, was found at 5:20 a.m. unconscious and unresponsive in the 1300 block of Columbia Road Northwest.

Police have arrested Keiva Hooks, 30, on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed in connection with Hooks' death. NBC Washington reports that Keiva Hooks is the daughter of Tajuana Lynn Hooks.

A press release from MPD is after the jump.

Arrest Made in Homicide: 1300 Block of Columbia Road, Northwest

(Washington, DC) – Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch have announced an arrest has been made in the homicide which occurred in the 1300 block of Columbia Road, Northwest.

On Thursday, July 31, 2014, at approximately 5:20 am, members from the Third District responded to a call for an aggravated assault in the 1300 block of Columbia Road, Northwest. Upon arrival, they located one adult female unconscious and unresponsive and another with non-life threatening injuries. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded and transported one victim to a local hospital. The decedent was subsequently transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia where an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause and manner of death.

The decedent has been identified as 54 year-old Tajuana Lynn Hooks.

On Thursday, July 31, 2014, at approximately 6:06 pm, pursuant to a DC Superior Court arrest warrant, members of the Homicide Branch arrested 30 year-old Keiva Hooks of Northwest, Washington, DC, charging her with Second Degree Murder While Armed in connection to this homicide.