D.C. man gets 74 years in stalking case
A D.C. man accused of stabbing a woman to death, as law enforcement officials raced to her rescue, has been sentenced to 74 years behind bars.
Roderick A. Ridley, 34, was convicted of 26 counts, including first-degree burglary, carrying a dangerous weapon, and felony threats. The D.C. jury was unable to reach a verdict on felony murder and premeditated murder in the killing of 33-year-old Tiffany Gates, his ex-girlfriend. Ridley will be retried on those charges, prosecutors said.
According to law enforcement officials, in 2008 U.S. marshals looking for fugitive Roderick Ridley got a frantic phone call from Gates saying Ridley was trying to get into her apartment building on the 3900 block of D Street SE.
Ridley had escaped from D.C. Department of Corrections nine days earlier and police were desperately looking for him. By the time police made it upstairs to Gates’ apartment, it was too late. Her front door was open. Gates was on the ground, drenched in blood.
Woman arrested in D.C. killing
A District woman is charged with second-degree murder in the weekend slaying of another woman on the east end of Capitol Hill.
D.C. police said 44-year-old Stephanie Lawson was arrested Sunday in connection with the stabbing death of Karen Jordan, 49.
Jordan was found wounded at about 9:45 p.m. Saturday on the 400 block of 16th Street NE. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
— Emily Babay and Scott McCabe
