Runner stabbed to death Sept. 18 in Logan Circle

D.C. police charged 23-year-old Anthony Crawford of Northwest D.C. with first degree murder in connection with Wendy Martinez’s death Sept. 18 while she was running in Logan Circle.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham cited a combination of work by police, tips from the public and security camera footage in identifying Crawford, who was arrested the night of Sept. 19 at the Girard Street Park near 14th Street NW.

Martinez, 35, was killed following a stabbing while she was running west on P Street NW in Logan Circle the evening of Sept. 18. Newsham said she stopped at the corner of 11th Street NW at 7:45 p.m., where she was stabbed in what he described as likely a random attack. There was no indication Martinez was the victim of a robbery, but police have not identified a motive.

A 7 p.m. vigil Sept. 20 has been planned at the corner of P and 11th.

Newsham called the stabbing an isolated instance.

“We don’t see crimes like this very much, it was an unlikely thing that happened,” he said at a Sept. 20 news conference. “It’s certainly damaging to all our senses of safety.”

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Peter Newsham described her in a Sept. 19 news conference as “avid runner, known to run for miles across the city on a regular basis.” More than that, she ran the 2015 Palestine Marathon, finishing in 4:20:18 for eighth place.

“This is one of those types of unsettling incidents that sometimes happens in large cities, but it seems like a singular incident,” Newsham said Sept. 19.

According to security camera footage, the assailant was a black man wearing a thigh-length long-sleeved mustard-colored shirt, dark sweatpants rolled up to expose his shins, white socks and light-colored sandals. He headed south on 11th Street following the attack.

Martinez sought refuge in the Asian American takeout restaurant on the corner of P Street and 11th Street where customers came to her aid, including a nurse, who gave her medical attention, Newsham said. He added that the police have several cooperative witnesses.

Nearly 24 hours after the attack, mourners placed flowers outside of the restaurant and runners stopped to reflect.

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