death investigation

Alexandria Mother Charged in Death of Infant Son

By ARLnow.com

Zoraida Magali Conde Hernandez (photo via ACPD)An Alexandria woman has been charged with felony child neglect in the death of her 8-month old son.

Police say Zoraida Magali Conde Hernandez, 32, allegedly left the infant in her car in a parking lot on the 200 block of N. Glebe Road while she went to work. The boy was in the car for 6 hours as temperatures hit sweltering levels on Friday.

Hernandez “noticed the baby was left inside his car seat when she arrived at a daycare to pick up one of her other children,” according to Arlington County Police. “The baby was unresponsive and she immediately drove to INOVA Alexandria hospital, where the child was pronounced dead a short time later.”

Hernandez was arrested and charged with felony child neglect by members of the Arlington County Police homicide/robbery unit yesterday. She is being held without bond in the Arlington County jail.

Photo via ACPD

Ft. Myer Soldier Drowns in Potomac

By ARLnow.com

U.S. Army logoA soldier who was stationed at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall has been found dead in the Potomac River.

Vincent Crapps, 24, is believed to have drowned after diving off cliffs on the Virginia side of the river. After an extended search and rescue effort, his body was found by Montgomery County (Md.) Police this afternoon.

Crapps was a member of the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment, better known as the “Old Guard.”

From a Montgomery County Police press release:

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Major Crimes Division – Homicide and Sex Section are investigating a drowning that occurred on Saturday.

On Saturday, June 29, at approximately 5:30 p.m., Montgomery County Fire & Rescue received a call for a possible drowning of a 24-year-old male in the Potomac River near Bear Island. Montgomery County Fire & Rescue began a rescue mission. Montgomery County Police search and rescue officers responded to the area to provide assistance on land.

Today, following an extended joint operation, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue recovered the victim’s body in the water at approximately 2:25 p.m. Montgomery County Police search and rescue officers were on scene during these recovery efforts. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Montgomery County Police detectives are leading the investigation into the victim’s death. Investigation has revealed that the victim was diving off the cliffs on the Virginia side of the river when his friends noticed him go under the water and not surface. His friends called 911.

The victim has been identified as Vincent Crapps of the 3d United States Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), stationed at Fort Myer, Virginia.

Man Found Dead in Hospital’s ‘Healing Garden’

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Police are investigating the death of a man found on a park bench across from Virginia Hospital Center.

The man was found unresponsive on a bench in the hospital’s “Healing Garden,” at 1625 N. George Mason Drive in the Waycroft-Woodlawn neighborhood, according to scanner traffic. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

Investigators are on the scene, but so far there’s no indication that foul play is suspected.

Photo via Google Maps

Police Investigate ‘Suspicious Death’ of 87-Year-Old Man

By ARLnow.com

Police are investigating the death of an 87-year-old resident of Arlington’s Old Glebe neighborhood.

From a police press release:

The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is investigating the suspicious death of an Arlington County resident.

The body was discovered at 10:17 a.m. on October 13, 2012 inside his residence in the 3700 block of N. Wakefield Street by a family member. The investigation is ongoing at this time.

The man has been identified as Mack L. Wood, 87, of Arlington, VA.

As of 9:00 a.m., Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told ARLnow.com that he did not have any additional information about the incident.

Marymount Prof Dies After Being Struck by Car in D.C.

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) Rhett Leverett, a history professor at Arlington’s Marymount University, has died after being struck by a car in Northwest D.C. this morning.

Marymount president Matthew D. Shank announced Prof. Leverett’s death in an email to students this afternoon. According to various news reports, which didn’t identify Leverett as the victim, he was struck by a car around 9:00 a.m. on the 400 block of Sixth Street NW, near the Archives Metro stop.

Leverett, 60, lived in a condo one block away, according to public records. After the accident, he was transported to a local hospital, where he passed away. D.C. police are investigating the accident.

On the website RateMyProfessors.com, students described Leverett as a somewhat tough grader, but at the same time said he was fun, introduced humor into his lectures, and had a knack for making the material interesting.

“Love his lectures and [he is] a great person,” one student wrote.

“Greatest History Professor I have ever had,” said another.

Wrote another student: “Leverett is the best! He makes class interesting and fun, but he knows what he’s talking about.”

Leverett specialized in history about modern and early modern Europe, according to the Marymount website. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1975 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama.

In his email, Shank urged students to keep Prof. Leverett and his family in their prayers.

Dear Students,

It is with great sorrow that I write to inform you that a member of our faculty, Professor Rhett Leverett, died in an accident this morning. While walking near his home in DC, Mr. Leverett was struck by a car; he was transported to George Washington University Hospital, where he passed away.

A member of our faculty since 1991, Mr. Leverett was known as an outstanding teacher and advisor. He will be remembered for many things, including his kindness, his sense of humor, and his unfailing dedication to Marymount University and our students.

We will hold a service to honor Mr. Leverett’s memory here on campus in the near future; I will inform you of the details once the arrangements have been made.

Please keep Mr. Leverett and his family in your prayers.

Matthew D. Shank
President

A letter from a student of Prof. Leverett’s, after the jump.

(more…)

Man Found Dead on Hotel Toilet

By ARLnow.com

A 51-year-old Maryland man was found dead in the lobby restroom of a Crystal City hotel Monday morning.

The hotel’s cleaning staff discovered the man unresponsive in a bathroom stall around 9:00 a.m. on Monday (Sept. 17). He was sitting on a toilet, slumped against the back wall. Paramedics were called but they were unable to revive the man, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The man was a resident of Bowie, Md., according to police. It’s not clear whether he was a guest in the hotel.

Authorities believe the man had a heart attack while on the toilet. His death is not considered suspicious.

File photo

Work Stoppage After Construction Worker Electrocuted

By Katie Pyzyk

Construction has stopped on the new apartment building at 2201 N. Pershing Drive in Lyon Park, following the electrocution death of a worker.

According to police, two individuals were doing work on an electrical panel inside a closet. One of the workers walked away to get more supplies, and then heard a strange noise. Upon returning, he found the victim being electrocuted. The co-worker ran to get a board or some other object to knock the victim away from the electrical panel, but by the time he returned, the worker was unconscious.

Emergency crews administered CPR at the scene, and the victim was transported to Virginia Hospital Center with critical injuries. The man, believed to be in his 20s, died shortly after. According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the department is working to find and notify the victim’s family members, who do not live in the area.

Work has been suspended at the site and police remain on scene while OSHA performs an investigation.

Although the apartment complex started leasing earlier this year, construction has been plagued with delays. The first wave of renters was expected to move in starting in July, but so far the building is not ready for inhabitants.

Police Investigate Homicide on Columbia Pike

By Katie Pyzyk

(Updated at 5:25 p.m.) Arlington County police are investigating a deadly armed robbery at a Columbia Pike jewelry store.

The body of a 52-year-old man was found inside Capital Jewelers in the 3200 block of Columbia Pike just before midnight yesterday (Friday). According to police, he was declared dead at the scene from an injury he sustained.

Family members had called police when the Herndon resident didn’t return home from his shift at the store last night.

Police are releasing still photos taken from the store’s surveillance video with the hope that the public can help identify the suspect, who is still at large and considered armed and dangerous. According to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, the video indicates the suspect entered the store around 4:00 p.m. on Friday. He’s described as a black man in his 50s, about 5’7″ with a medium build. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a neon traffic vest.

Anyone with information concerning this incident or the identity of the suspect is asked to contact Detective Richard Conigliaro at 703-228-4193 or [email protected].

This was the second murder in Arlington this week, after the county went more than two years without a single homicide.

Police Identify Couple In Murder-Suicide

By Aaron Kraut

Police on Thursday identified the man and woman killed in Tuesday’s murder-suicide at the Park Shirlington Apartments on the 4500 block of 31st Street South, near the Fairlington neighborhood.

Xiomara Aracely Benitez, 30, of Arlington was pronounced dead at the scene along with Juan Carlos Mox Mox, 30, of Arlington, according to a press release from the Arlington County Police Department. Police identified Benitez as the victim and Mox Mox as the subject. They were married with two children.

Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said a family member took in the two children after the incident, which police have officially ruled a murder-suicide. The cause of death has not yet been determined, according to police.

A family member discovered the victim and subject in a back bedroom of their apartment and police received a 911 call at 2:43 p.m. on Tuesday.

This last homicide in Arlington County happened on March 14, 2010, when a man was stabbed to death in the Lyon Park neighborhood.

BREAKING NEWS — Police Investigate Murder-Suicide

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 6:35 p.m.) Police are investigating what appears to be a murder-suicide at the Park Shirlington Apartments on the 4500 block of 31st Street South, near the Fairlington neighborhood.

Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck says it appears the man and woman, both 30-years-old, had some sort of relationship and lived together in the apartment where they were found. An adult female family member who also lived in the apartment found the bodies in a back bedroom and called 911 around 2:45 p.m.

One resident told ARLnow.com that the apartment was home to a couple with two children and a woman who also had a child. The children were all between the age of 7 and 9, she said.

“Nothing like this has happened here before,” said Cecilia Rodriguez. “I’ve lived here for 26 years and I’ve raised my kids here… It’s scary for me.”

Rodriguez said she believes a car police towed from the apartment’s parking lot belonged to the female half of the couple.

Police were seen taking items out of a dumpster near the apartment building, such as a rolled up rug and bags of trash. Initial reports suggests evidence might have been found in the dumpster.

The last homicide in Arlington County occurred on March 14, 2010, when a man was stabbed to death in the Lyon Park neighborhood.

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Elderly Woman Struck by Cab in Ballston Dies

By ARLnow.com

The elderly woman struck by a cab in Ballston yesterday (Wednesday morning) has died.

Police say they’re still investigating the accident, which occurred at the intersection of Glebe Road and Carlin Springs Road. No charges have been filed, yet.

The 76 year-old victim of a pedestrian struck incident on July 18, 2012 in Arlington County has died from the injuries she sustained. The investigation is ongoing at this time.

Madela Anez de Walsh, 76, of Arlington, VA, was attempting to cross N. Carlin Springs Road at N. Glebe Road yesterday morning at 9:25 a.m., when she was struck by a taxi cab causing a significant head injury. Walsh was transported to Fairfax hospital following the incident, where she succumbed to her injuries around noon today.

The driver of the striking vehicle remained on scene and is cooperating with the police investigation.

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