Two women have been arrested and accused of killing a D.C. man and then cutting off his right thumb to use it to take out money and pay for things, presumably by opening the victim’s phone.
On July 1, Tiffany Taylor Gray, 22, of Bowie, Maryland, was arrested in Prince George’s County on a D.C. warrant charging her with first-degree murder while armed. She is being extradited to the District.
Ms. Gray is accused of killing Fasil Teklemariam, 53, who was found dead in his apartment in the 1300 block of Peabody Street Northwest on April 5, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a release.
The autopsy of Teklemariam revealed he died from multiple blunt force fractures to the head, numerous lacerations and a single, long stab wound that punctured his stomach, small intestine and part of his aorta before striking his spine.
Teklemariam was missing his right thumb, according to an affidavit supporting the arrest warrant for the second suspect, Audrey Miller, 19. Ms. Miller has also been charged with first-degree murder while armed.
As of June 5, police had not found the thumb or any of Teklemariam’s personal electronics.
One of the witnesses interviewed by detectives named only as “Witness 5” claimed that Teklemariam was the “sugar daddy” of Taylor Gray; the name is an alias used by Ms. Gray, according to the affidavit. The witness said Ms. Gray works as a prostitute.
Witness 5 also told detectives that the suspects cut off Teklemariam’s thumb, and they accused Ms. Gray of using the thumb to withdraw money and to pay for Uber, weed and alcohol. Neither the witness nor detectives specified how the thumb was purportedly used to achieve these ends.
Teklemariam had previously filed a theft report with MPD, accusing a female friend whom he identified as “Taylor” of taking his phone, changing his passwords, and attempting to wire $2,125 via Cash App, $1,800 of which was successfully transferred.
Ms. Miller, who was arrested on June 21, has no fixed address, according to MPD and court documents.
CCTV footage revealed that Teklemariam was last seen alive on the night of April 1, and the autopsy found that he died two to five days before his body was found.
Teklemariam was seen on CCTV letting someone identified by authorities as Ms. Miller into his building at around 7:18 p.m. on April 1, and he was last seen alive on footage from 7:47 p.m. that night, returning to the building with some cans of soda.
A witness identified in court documents as “Witness 3” later told police they had seen Ms. Miller with Teklemariam at least twice before the night of his death.
At around 11:30 p.m., CCTV appeared to show Ms. Miller and Ms. Gray walking through the building’s lobby carrying items that appeared to have come from Teklemariam’s apartment.
Ms. Gray and two male suspects appeared again on CCTV footage from April 3, which shows them entering the building with Teklemariam’s key fob and eventually leaving with several more items that appeared to have come from Teklemariam’s apartment.
Witness 3 said one of the bags seen on CCTV had been in Teklemariam’s apartment.
There are also at least two men alleged to have been involved in Teklemariam’s death, according to court documents. MPD has not announced any further charges or arrests in the case.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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