D.C. Man Arrested In Stabbing Death of Jogger: Reports

WASHINGTON, DC — Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham announced Thursday afternoon that a District man has been arrested in the stabbing death of a 35-year-old woman who went out for a jog Tuesday night. Anthony Crawford, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder while armed in the killing of Wendy Karina Martinez, according to media reports.

The police responded to the report of the stabbing at 7:56 p.m. Tuesday in the 1400 block of 11th Street NW, near the intersection with P Street in the vicinity of Logan Circle.

They found Martinez, who had been running along the street, "suffering from multiple stab wounds," the police said in a statement. Paramedics arrived at the scene and took Martinez to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The victim's family said Martinez, who lived in Northwest D.C., was recently engaged. After a news conference Thursday, a friend of Martinez tearfully read a family statement in which they thanked the police and Mayor Muriel Bowser for the swiftness of Crawford’s arrest, radio station WTOP reported.

Martinez, a 2012 graduate of Georgetown University, was an avid runner and a volunteer with the Central American Resource Center, a nonprofit that provides legal services to Latinos, according to WTOP.

She also was an executive with FiscalNote, a District company that sells software that tracks data on legislation and government regulations, the Washington Business Journal reported.

The police apprehended Crawford on Wednesday night in a park near 14th and Girard streets NW, following up on tips from the public and images from a surveillance camera, WTOP reported.

Newsham said at the news conference Thursday that the police have not established a motive in the case, and Crawford has not cooperated.

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Crawford has a criminal history and detectives are combing through it, the police chief said. They're also trying to determine whether he has any mental health issues, WTOP reported.

The Metropolitan Police Department offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide committed in the District of Columbia.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Anonymous information also may be submitted to the department’s text tip line by sending a text message to 50411.

Image: Metropolitan D.C. Police Department