After more than 40 years as a cold case, charges were brought against a 63-year-old Maryland man for the rape and murder of a woman with strong ties to Alexandria.
Vickie Lynn Belk was 28 years old when she was found murdered in Charles County, Maryland, on August 29, 1979. The mother of a seven-year-old boy was raped and fatally shot and her case lingered for decades until last November, when a DNA match was made with 63-year-old Andre Taylor, who lived four miles from where Belk’s body was recovered at the time of her death.
“Nearly 44-years ago, our family lost Vickie Lynn Belk, a beloved mother, sister and friend to a tragic and heinous crime,” said Kay Belk, Vickie’s sister. “The news of the grand jury returning an indictment for the individual responsible for Vickie’s death and an arrest in her murder begins the long-awaited process of justice finally being served. We are grateful for the tireless efforts of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office detectives and the forensics personnel who never ceased seeking justice on Vickie’s behalf. And we extend our thanks to the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office for their commitment and prosecution of Vickie’s case.”
Taylor was arrested last month and is being held without bond in the Charles County Detention Center. He was charged with rape and first-degree murder. When arrested, he was living in failing health in a D.C. nursing and rehabilitation facility, according to The Washington Post. He is being defended by the Maryland Public Defender’s office.
Belk grew up in Alexandria and was a 1969 T.C. Williams High School graduate and member of Oakland Baptist Church on King Street. She got an education degree from St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and at the time of her death was a management analyst with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Vickie Lynn Belk Scholarship Foundation in Alexandria has awarded approximately 100 scholarships since being founded in her honor.
Images via Charles County SHeriff’s Office
A 22-year-old Maryland man has been charged with the murders of an Alexandria man in 2022 and a Bristow man in 2021, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
On July 10, police arrested Corde Fitzhugh-Clingman, of Hyattsville, and charged him with two counts of first degree murder while armed for the 2022 death of 26-year-old Zekariya Elmi, of Alexandria, and the 2021 death of 24 year-old Muntsier Sharfi, of Bristow.
MPD offered $25,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in both cases. After his arrest, no information on how Fitzhugh-Clingman allegedly committed the incidents was released by police. Court documents related to his case in D.C. Courts are sealed and no court date has been set.
Elmi was shot in the 5000 block of South Dakota Avenue, Northeast, at around 11:30 p.m. on Monday, April 25, 2022. He reportedly crashed his car into a utility pole after the incident and he later died at the hospital.
Sarfi, a football player and 2020 graduate of the University of Virginia College at Wise, was found shot to death at around 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 8, 2021, in an overturned vehicle in the 3300 block of Southern Avenue, Southeast. Police found that he was shot a block away in the 3300 block of Eerie Street, Southeast.
update: Michigan Park shooting— Man was driving an auto that crashed into a utility pole after he had been shot. He was still alert and talking when taken to a trauma center. https://t.co/Edap0WgyVB pic.twitter.com/xiJfXZ626L
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) April 26, 2022
Alexandria resident Nasrat Ahmad Yar, 31, was murdered on Monday in D.C. and a reward is being offered for information related to the crime, Patch reported.
D.C. police are investigating Yar’s homicide on Monday, July 3, on the 400 block of 11th Street NE.
“At approximately 12:08 am, First District officers responded to the listed location for the report of an unconscious person,” D.C. police said in a release. “Upon arrival, officers located an adult male shooting victim inside of a vehicle. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded to the scene and transported the victim to an area hospital for treatment. After all life-saving efforts failed, the victim was pronounced dead.”
D.C. police offers a reward of up to $25,000 for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction of someone responsible for a homicide in D.C.
“Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099,” the release said. “Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.”
The 2022 assault of a 38-year-old man in the West End is being considered a murder after the victim died earlier this year, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
Maurio Bailey was assaulted in the 5400 block of N. Morgan Street on Nov. 28, 2022, and died on Jan. 2, 2023. The incident occurred at an apartment complex near Holmes Run.
“The Medical Examiner’s Office recently determined the cause of death, as a death stemming from physical injuries,” APD said in a release on June 30.
APD is now asking witnesses to come forward by contacting Detective Matthew Kramarik at 703-746-6650 or [email protected]. Witnesses can also call the APD non-emergency number at 703-746-4444. Callers can remain anonymous.
News Release:: APD Investigates Physical Assault Turned Homicide
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a physical assault from November 2022 that turned into a homicide in early January.
Read more: https://t.co/1y3CL05IiJ
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) June 30, 2023
Image via Google Maps
A 17-year-old former Alexandria City High School student was found guilty Tuesday for last year’s fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez in the parking lot of the Bradlee Shopping Center.
Judge James C. Clark found the teen guilty of second-degree murder and murder by mob and said that the case is a tragedy for all involved. The defendant sat silently as Clark rendered his decision at the conclusion of the two-day bench trial. He faces between five-to-40 years in prison for the second-degree murder charge and five-to-40 years for the murder by mob, or lynching, charge.
“(The defendant) injected himself into that fight,” Clark said while rendering his verdict, and said that the suspect “made the unspeakably poor decision to approach Mr. Mejia Hernandez and interject himself in a fight he was involved with and stabbed him in the chest.”
Clark continued, “There was clearly a mob in the Bradlee parking lot. (The defendant) injected himself in that fight, not in the heat of passion or out of fear of Luis Mejia Hernandez.”
The stabbing occurred during a brawl between two rival gangs of Alexandria City High School teenagers on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 — a week before graduation. The fight was over within one minute, and Mejia Hernandez was fatally stabbed in the heart. An autopsy showed that he also had abrasions to his neck, chin, the back of his hands, abdomen and knees, according to the medical examiner who testified that the cause of death was a 7/8-inch stab wound to the chest.
“I’m very happy,” said Osmin Mejia Romero, the victim’s father, after Clark announced the verdict.
Defense attorney Sebastian Norton argued that his client acted in self-defense, was frightened and not a member of the mob — all claims that Clark refuted when announcing his verdict. Norton showed still images from videos of the incident revealing Mejia Hernandez winding up his right hand to strike the defendant, and said that the stabbing was “tragically an unlucky shot.”
The defendant told police during his interrogation that two rival gangs, which he dubbed “Chiri” and “West,” agreed to fight that day at the Bradlee Shopping Center.
“(The defendant) reasonably feared death or great bodily harm,” Norton said. “What happened on May 24 was a tragedy.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney David Lord said that the defendant callously found the fight he was looking for.
“Fifty random students of a city high school didn’t meet near the McDonald’s in order to eat cheeseburgers and ice cream,” Lord said. “(The defendant) was looking for a fight that day and he found one.”
The defendant is being held in the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center and will be sentenced on September 28. Clark has the option to sentence him entirely as a juvenile or adult, or combining a juvenile and adult sentence. Clark said that between now and September should give him time to determine the character of the defendant and whether he’s a “gang banger.”
The 17-year-old male suspect facing murder charges in last year’s fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez was implicated by damning evidence police found on his phone, according to evidence presented Monday.
Monday’s bench trial will continue into today for the defense to present their case, and a speedy verdict on second degree murder and murder by mob charges is expected from Judge James C. Clark. The suspect faces between five-to-40 years in prison for the second degree murder charge and five-to-40 years for the murder by mob, or lynching, charge.
The stabbing occurred during a brawl between two rival gangs of Alexandria City High School teenagers on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 — a week before graduation. Mejia Hernandez was fatally stabbed in the heart, and an autopsy showed that he also had abrasions to his neck, chin, the back of his hands, abdomen and knees, according to the medical examiner who testified that the cause of death was a 7/8-inch stab wound to the chest.
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s David Lord and Meredith Burke said that Mejia, a high school senior due to graduate within days, was outnumbered and fighting defensively at the Bradlee Shopping Center. They published into evidence multiple videos of the fight taken from a Alexandria Police Department dashcam, security cameras and videos from phones recovered by police. One security video shows Mejia Hernandez arriving to the parking lot in his car, parking, and then joining a group of students near a bus stop outside the Bradlee Shopping Center McDonald’s.
Lord and Burke allege that the suspect deliberately acted with cruel and deliberate malice.
“The defendant joined the fray and did not stop until he drove a knife into the chest of Luis Mejia Hernandez,” Burke said. “Videos show the defendant intentionally plunged his knife in the chest of Luis Mejia Hernandez.”
The suspect’s attorney’s, Sean Sherlock and Sebastian Norton, say that their client was a scared 16-year-old acting defensively, and that there is no evidence he stabbed Mejia Hernandez. Both defense attorneys would not comment on why they favored a bench trial.
Sherlock and Norton said that the Commonwealth’s case is built on circumstantial evidence, and without a murder weapon, confession or witnesses. Instead, they say, prosecutors only have “blurry cell phone videos of a scared 16-year-old in the middle of a violent brawl,” Norton said.
During Monday’s trial, the suspect sat quietly with a surgical face mask under his chin, and wore black pants, black sneakers and a long sleeve white button-up shirt. Several rows into the courtroom was Osmin Mejia Romero, the victim’s father, who sat emotionless while listening to a Spanish translation of the proceeding through headphones. Mejia Romero briefly appeared on the stand to identify photos of his son before resuming his seat in the gallery.
Brawl between rival student gangs
Two Alexandria Police officers responded initially to a trespassing call at the McDonald’s, and upon arriving a crowd of students left the restaurant and the scene escalated in the parking lot. Police testified that they were overwhelmed by the students and did not try breaking up the melee by activating the sirens, lights or PA system in their cruisers.
There were a number of other students with weapons, including Mejia Hernandez, who was was found to have had a stiletto pocket knife with a three-inch blade in his pocket throughout the altercation. Another student was found with brass knuckles.
The brawl occurred at around 12:30 p.m. and lasted about a minute.
“One of the subjects threw a water bottle, and another threw a mango pineapple smoothie,” testified Officer Byron Rush. “After that the subjects began to start fighting.”
Both Rush and Officer Malcolm Cook were the only officers to witness the incident, and said that they didn’t see the stabbing. The officers broke up groups of juveniles fighting, and helped Mejia Hernandez when he collapsed. He died soon after and was identified at Inova Alexandria Hospital by his driver’s license and student identification.
Friends of the victim say that police did not do enough to prevent the incident. Alexandria City High School shifted to virtual instruction for the remainder of the school year after the incident, and Mejia was posthumously awarded a graduation diploma.
Claiming self-defense
Both sides agree that the suspect allegedly found out about a planned fight between two factions of students in the Bradlee parking lot while he was in the Alexandria City High School cafeteria. The suspect also confirmed to investigators that he owned a knife, bought at a smoke shop, although initially told investigators that he didn’t use it.
During the interrogation, the suspect asked if he could text his girlfriend, and police agreed and observed the code he used to unlock his phone. Police then got into the phone and found multiple videos of the brawl that they’d not seen before. The video was taken from a phone, and prosecutors say shows the moment when the stabbing occurred.
“He acknowledged he was the person in the video with the knife in his hand,” testified Detective Michael Wheylan. “He admitted to doing it , but advised it was in self defense… He didn’t deny that he didn’t do it.”
Wheylan conducted the interrogation, and was convinced of the suspect’s guilt when the suspect allegedly admitted to owning a knife, and acting in self defense. Wheylan also said that the suspect told him that he lost the knife after the incident.
Norton and Sherlock were unsuccessful in convincing Clark to strike the murder in the second degree and murder by mob charges. They said there was no evidence their client initiated the fight, and that in the photo allegedly showing him stabbing Mejia Hernandez, they claim that Mejia Hernandez was positioned to attack him.
“I can’t exclude the notion that (the suspect) was part of the mob,” Clark said.
Norton said that the blow was struck in a “split second” in the heat of a brawl, and that his client believed MS-13 gang members were present and that he was scared. He also said there was no evidence that the suspect and victim knew each other, or that there was pre-planning before the incident.
Lord, however, said that Mejia Hernandez was “constantly on his heels,” and that the suspect was a member of a mob who “inserted himself into the situation with the knife and ultimately inflicted the lethal blow.”
(Updated 2:45 p.m.) A 28-year-old Prince William County man was arrested for the murder of a 25-year-old more than a year ago, the Alexandria Police Department announced today.
Dontae LaShawn Drumgold is being held without bond in connection with the death of Elijah Williams in March 2022.
Drumgold was arrested in another jurisdiction on May 1, and arrested in Alexandria yesterday (Monday), according to court records reviewed by ALXnow.
He was charged with first-degree murder and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He went to court today for a preliminary hearing. No trial date has been set, according to the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.
APD did not say in its announcement where Drumgold was arrested and did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Williams was shot dead and found by police on the sidewalk in the 4500 block of Raleigh Avenue at around 7 a.m. on March 25, 2022 — last year’s first homicide.
“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter said.
First-Degree Murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. Use of a Firearm in Commission of a Felony requires a three-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Notification:: There is a heavy police presence in the 4500 block of Raleigh avenue. This is in response to a sudden death. APD is on scene and investigating. No further details at this time. pic.twitter.com/ghzpiZUi7n
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) March 23, 2022
New Release Update:: APD arrested Dontae Drumgold, 28, and charged him with First-Degree Murder and one count of Use of a Firearm in Commission of a Felony in response to a homicide from March 23, 2022.
Read more:: https://t.co/MS5KRkjPMo pic.twitter.com/GNMuuB8wiW
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) May 9, 2023
Image via Alexandria Sheriff’s Office
No arrests have been made since a man was fatally shot in the Landmark area on Friday night.
The Alexandria Police Department was dispatched to the 200 block of S. Reynolds Street at around 11:30 p.m. for reports of a man shot in the upper body. Multiple callers reported to police that a black SUV fled the area after the incident.
“Officers discovered a man with trauma to his upper body and rendered first aid until rescue personnel arrived,” APD said in a release. “The victim was then transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.”
The man has not been identified, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy.
This is the third shooting death of 2023 in the city, following the death of a teenager in the West End in January and a homicide in Arlandria last month.
Anyone with information on this incident can call Detective Michael Whelan at 703-746-6228, via email at [email protected], or through the APD non-emergency number at 703-746-4444. Callers can remain anonymous.
Map via Google Maps
News Release: The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a homicide that occurred in the 200 block of South Reynolds Street.
Read more: https://t.co/mRZ6Z0N54B pic.twitter.com/XSYnZTjl5O
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) March 4, 2023
Notification:: There is a moderate police presence in the 300 block of South Reynolds Street, this is in response to a shots fired incident. One person was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. APD is on scene and investigating the incident. pic.twitter.com/QngXKuOBSx
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) March 4, 2023
A 23-year-old West End man pleaded guilty today to a two-count murder indictment alleging that he fatally shot his brother with a rifle.
Enoc Cruz Villafuerte pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree and another count of shooting in the commission of murder in connection to the death of his 24-year-old brother Jonathan Cruz Villafuerte.
Villafuerte, who is being held without bond in the Alexandria jail, admitted to shooting his brother in the chest with a .380 “assault-style” rifle in the living room of their father’s apartment in the 1400 block of N. Beauregard Street on the morning of June 6, 2022, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter.
“There were no signs of a fight or struggle between Enoc and Jonathan, and Enoc confirmed with police that he and Jonathan were not arguing or fighting prior to him shooting Jonathan,” Porter said in a release. “Jonathan suffered one gunshot wound to the right side of his chest and was pronounced dead on-scene.”
Villafuerte will be sentenced on April 20. He faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison for the murder in the second-degree charge and a maximum of five years in prison for the shooting in the commission of murder charge.
After a lengthy trial, a hung jury couldn’t reach a verdict against a 24-year-old California man accused of murdering a man in the West End in 2020, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney will retry the case in February.
On Thursday (Dec. 15), the jury remained deadlocked on whether Ahmed Mohammed Shareef should be charged with murder or manslaughter in the Nov. 2020 shooting death of 23-year old Yousef Omar. The jury did, however, find Shareef guilty of racketeering with 20 others for operating a drug trafficking organization between the D.C. Metro area and Los Angeles, California.
Shareef is claiming self-defense and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He will be retried for the murder charge on February 16, Alexandria’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter told ALXnow.
“The jury trial was extremely lengthy,” Porter said. “It started the very beginning of November, and was a six-week trial. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury convicted him of racketeering, but was unable to reach a verdict on the murder charge. The case has been continued to February 16.”
Sentencing is being withheld for the racketeering charges until the conclusion of the upcoming murder trial. Shareef faces life in prison for the murder charge and up to 40 years for the racketeering charge.
Omar was found shot multiple times in the driver’s seat of a 2016 silver Mercedes E350 on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 17, 2020. A firearm was found near Omar’s body, as well as numerous shell casings, indicating that he fired at his attacker. A half-hour after the shooting, Shareef checked himself into Howard University Hospital with a gunshot wound, police said in a search warrant affidavit.
The investigation of the drug trafficking organization resulted in the arrest of 20 individuals, including Shareef, and the seizure of $500,000 worth of marijuana, nearly $275,000 in cash, 23 firearms, cocaine and other drugs, digital scales, money counters, fake identifications and a number of vehicles.
“The investigation also revealed that the likely motive (of the murder) was over an unresolved drug debt and potential interference by the victim to pry customers away from the (drug trafficking organization),” police said in a search warrant affidavit.
A witness told police that they saw Shareef and Omar in the Mercedes, parked across the street from the Newport Village apartment complex near Fort Ward Park.
The witness saw Shareef “exit the vehicle and proceed to shoot the victim multiple times as he sat in the driver’s seat, striking him multiple times,” according to the search warrant affidavit. “The suspect then ran to a waiting vehicle, entering the front passenger seat and fleeing the scene.”
The incident was the third and final homicide of 2020.
A police investigation determined that Shareef and his co-conspirators ferried marijuana from Los Angeles to the D.C. Metro area in large suitcases on commercial airliners. In many instances, the suspect who checked the baggage in California would not get on flights and the bags, with different names on identification tags, would be picked up by other suspects in Virginia. The marijuana in the luggage was found in vacuum-sealed bags.
“The method included top tier traffickers purchasing flights for individuals and packing large suitcases with other materials to conceal large quantities of marijuana, ensuring that the bag was checked approximately 50 minutes before the flight left and would often be picked up by different individuals at DCA (Washington Reagan International Airport) and IAD (Dulles International) airports in the Commonwealth,” police said in the search warrant affidavit.
(The story previously said incorrectly that Shareef is defending himself. That is not accurate. He is instead claiming self-defense.)
