Virginia’s attorney general is saying that the District’s “crime explosion” is now affecting the neighboring commonwealth in the wake of Christy Bautista’s slaying at a D.C. hotel last week.
Top prosecutor Jason Miyares said it’s become clear that D.C.’s leaders can’t protect the thousands of Virginians who go to the nation’s capital every day — let alone its own residents — in a Thursday letter addressed to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.
He pointed out that Virginia residents Aaron Bourne, Kenithy Manns and Ahmad Clark were killed in the District over the past three years.
The attorney general then zeroed in on Ms. Bautista’s death in Northeast last week, in which the suspect had been granted release from jail despite pleading guilty to attempted robbery charges.
“There is no deterrent for illegal behavior in Washington, D.C., as these repeat offenders know they will either not be charged or let back on the streets in no time. That’s why we lost Christy Bautista,” wrote Mr. Miyares, a Republican.
“D.C.’s lenient policies and perspectives are responsible for her murderer’s release when he should have been in custody. An innocent woman lost her life to someone who should have been in jail,” he said.
D.C. policies on crime have come under increasing attack in recent months, prompting Congress, under the leadership of Republicans but with Democratic support, to veto the city’s criminal-code overhaul that, among other things, lightened penalties for violent crimes.
Virginia has a stake in the safety of the District. About 170,000 residents of several Northern Virginia jurisdictions — Fairfax, Prince William, Arlington and Loudoun counties, plus the city of Alexandria — work in D.C. and thousands more commute in and out daily for recreation, shopping and other reasons.
Mr. Mendelson’s congressional testimony last week, in which he said that “there is no crime crisis in Washington,” was also chided by the Virginia attorney general.
Mr. Miyares cited the District’s 31% increase in homicides and 84% increase in sexual assaults so far this year to suggest that “Washington, D.C. is dealing with a crime explosion.”
The commonwealth’s top prosecutor recommended that Virginia and the District work together to tamp down crime.
“Our nation’s Capital should be a beacon of hope and freedom for the entire world, not known as a place where attending a concert can end one’s life,” Mr. Miyares wrote. “I urge the city’s leadership to address the scourge of violent crime that is growing more intolerable by the day.”
The details surrounding Ms. Bautista’s death were particularly gruesome, and have become a flash point of media coverage in the last several days.
According to court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate WRC-TV, Ms. Bautista checked into the Ivy City Hotel on New York Avenue shortly before 6 p.m. Less than an hour later, security footage showed the assailant lurking by her door before breaking in.
A witness heard a woman cry out “Help! Help!” before being pulled back into the room and a door being slammed shut. Responding officers arrived shortly after and saw a man with blood on his hands through the window blinds.
Court documents said that officers entered the room to find Ms. Bautista’s lifeless body lying face down on the ground as well as suspect George Sydnor Jr. covered in blood, trying to light a cigarette.
A large, half-broken kitchen knife was found by Sydnor’s jacket in the room. D.C.’s medical examiner determined that Ms. Bautista was stabbed 30 times, mostly in the back.
Court records show that Sydnor, who has previous convictions for burglary, robbery and a sex offense, was deemed a danger to the community during earlier trial hearings.
But a different judge took over his case and granted him supervised release in January. He skipped his hearing eight days later and wasn’t found until he was arrested.
Sydnor has been charged with first-degree murder. He entered a not guilty plea at his initial hearing. His next court date is scheduled for May 8.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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