Charging documents launched Monday chronicle the brutal killing of Bautista, a lady from Harrisonburg, Va., in an assault Friday evening off New York Avenue in Northeast Washington. Court docket documents also drop mild on the legal historical past of the male accused of killing her: He experienced been produced from jail after pleading responsible to tried robbery in D.C. while awaiting trial on a independent larceny charge in Prince George’s County. In the latest months, he had skipped courtroom dates in equally sites, and court docket records show that authorities had sought warrants for his arrest.
Police do not believe Bautista and the male charged with killing her, 43-12 months-previous George Sydnor Jr., knew every single other. On Monday, officials stated they ended up nonetheless investigating a likely motive.
“Our family is devastated by the loss of our beloved Christy,” Bautista’s family members mentioned in a assertion, which requested for privacy. “She introduced pleasure to every person who knew her and was a shining gentle in all of our life.”
Sydnor’s aunt, achieved by cellular phone, declined to remark. Sydnor declined to talk to law enforcement without an legal professional, in accordance to charging documents. Police claimed he had no fixed tackle.
The lethal stabbing came fewer than a week just after a 26-calendar year-outdated Senate staffer was stabbed and critically hurt following leaving a restaurant on H Road NE in what authorities think to be a random attack. The guy accused in his assault experienced been produced from prison a day previously — sparking cries, including by the victim’s mate who intervened in the attack, to increase punishment in the District.
Congress has been targeted on crime in D.C., with the Property and the Senate joining forces to reject a neighborhood rewrite of the District’s criminal code, in portion above problems that it would have reduced the statutory highest penalty for specific crimes, this kind of as carjacking. Supporters of the revised code say the go was an inappropriate intrusion on D.C.’s governance of by itself and have observed that federal authorities, which include the U.S. attorney’s office environment in the District, participate in a main role in shaping irrespective of whether all those charged stay in jail even though their conditions are pending, as effectively as what sentences these convicted finally get.
As of Monday, homicides in D.C. were up by 30 % when compared with the identical time in 2022, a yr when D.C. surpassed 200 killings for only the next time in nearly two many years. Assets criminal offense was also up by 27 percent, driven in aspect by a surge in car thefts, and violent crime experienced increased year-around-calendar year by 2 %. Even now, a Washington Publish-Schar Faculty poll done in February discovered that though most people consider criminal offense a “serious” issue in D.C., 3-fourths sense “very” or “somewhat” safe and sound in their neighborhood.
Sydnor was accused of approaching a woman sitting in her automobile in Southeast Washington in Oct — brandishing a firearm and demanding that she exit the vehicle and give him her keys and cellphone, in accordance to charging paperwork. He later on pleaded guilty to tried theft, a reduction from his first charge of armed robbery.
In January, prosecutors agreed to Sydnor’s release from jail ahead of sentencing, nevertheless he was matter to significant-depth supervision. The U.S. attorney’s business in D.C. declined to clarify that final decision — with a spokesperson stating Monday that they cannot remark on pending litigation. Sydnor’s attorney in the case declined to comment.
Quickly after his launch, Sydnor appeared in court docket in Maryland for a hearing about a separate larceny charge. He was meant to report back again to the D.C. court to acquire a GPS checking device, which he must have worn till his February sentencing day.
Alternatively, immediately after showing up in courtroom in Prince George’s County on Jan. 13, Sydnor stopped demonstrating up for his court docket appointments, data present. By Friday morning, documents show, there ended up two warrants out for his arrest — 1 from D.C. and just one from Prince George’s County. The Prince George’s County state’s attorney’s business office claimed Monday night it was looking into the case.
Later Friday, just before 6:45 p.m., surveillance footage captured him pulling into the Ivy Metropolis Lodge parking great deal. He rode his bicycle slowly, in accordance to charging files, by means of the concrete rectangle lined by two stories of hotel rooms. He stopped in front of Home 116, where, less than an hour previously, Bautista had parked in her gray Honda Civic.
Sydnor dismounted, in accordance to charging paperwork, and appeared to hear at the resort door. Surveillance footage showed him leaning back again and stepping into Space 116.