Three people were slain in D.C. late Friday and early Saturday, pushing the District’s homicide total up nearly 30 percent over this time last year. All of the homicides in the unusually violent night took place in Southeast Washington, east of the Anacostia River, but there are no indications that they are related, said Officer Istmania Bonilla, a D.C. police spokeswoman. Police have arrested a suspect in one case, Bonilla said, and investigators are still seeking suspects in the other two. The slayings bring the number of homicides reported in the District so far this year to 18, according to D.C. police statistics. That’s an increase of 28.6 percent from the 14 homicides the city had recorded at this time last year.
The first weekend slaying happened when a woman was stabbed to death on the 3000 block of Nelson Place SE at about 11:50 p.m., Bonilla said. Police said officers arrived at a residence on that block for a report of an unconscious person and found 36-year-old Selina Knight, of Southeast D.C., suffering from stab wounds.
Knight had no signs of life and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. No motive or suspect has been identified in the case.
Another woman, 36-year-old Vanessa McGee, was fatally shot shortly before 3:25 a.m. inside a home on the 4700 block of B Street SE, police said. Police went to the residence for a report of a shooting, and found McGee suffering from a gunshot wound. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Police said Ronald G. Pickett, 26, of D.C., has been charged in connection with the slaying. He was arrested at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday and has been charged with second-degree murder while armed.
In the final incident, a man was shot to death on the 3100 block of Buena Vista Terrace SE shortly before 3:30 a.m. Police said Henry Kelly, 20, of Southeast D.C., was found in an alley, unconscious and with a gunshot wound. He died at the scene. Police are still seeking a motive and perpetrator.
