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.