Last guilty plea in murder-for-hire,
cigarette smuggling scheme
A 32-year-old Fairfax County man has pleaded guilty to hiring a hit man to kill a member of his massive cigarette smuggling ring whom he believed had stolen smokes from a storage facility in Stafford County.
Xing Xiao was the last of the 14 members of the smuggling ring to plead guilty. Authorities say the group bought 77 million cigarettes from undercover agents in Virginia and took them to New York, where they resold them without paying the difference in state and local taxes.
Xiao admitted on Tuesday to hiring an undercover officer to kill a suspected cigarette thief and the thief’s wife.
Man stabbed to death in Columbia Heights
A 24-year-old man was found stabbed multiple times on the 3500 block of 14th Street NW, early Tuesday morning, D.C. police said.
Adelmo Tolentino Menjivar was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police said they are trying to determine a motive. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099.
District teen accused of killing another teen
D.C. police have accused a 15-year-old District boy of shooting and killing 15-year-old Joel Watkins in Northwest last month.
Watkins was found shot to death on the 6200 block of Seventh Street NW, at around 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 21. On Tuesday police said they arrested another 15-year-old on first-degree felony murder charges. They did not release the suspect’s name because of his age.
Double kidnapping attempt near Capitol
A 23-year-old woman allegedly tried to snatch two young girls from a stroller in Southeast near the Capitol, U.S. Capitol Police said.
Crystal Barnes was charged with two counts of attempted kidnapping after she tried to grab the children around 5 p.m. Monday, police said. No one was injured and police believe it was a random incident.
Compiled by Freeman Klopott
