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Friday, March 18, 2005
A man who lived in a house two doors away from slain mayoral aide and city cabinet member Wanda Alston was arrested for her murder Thursday, March 17, less than 24 hours after Alston’s partner found her body in her home in Northeast Washington. (See: Mayor’s gay liaison found slain)
Alston, 45, served as director of the Mayor’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs. She was widely known in the D.C. gay community, and news of her death Wednesday stunned gay activists.
Police charged William Parrot Jr., 38, with first-degree murder while armed in connection with Alston’s death. Police said the arrest came shortly after witnesses told investigators they saw him driving Alston’s stolen car in a neighborhood about a mile from her home.
With reporters at the scene, at least one witness led police to where Parrot was standing and pointed him out at about 2:30 p.m. on March 17, police said. The witnesses approached police shortly after an anonymous tipster alerted police to where he parked Alston’s car — at 50th and C Streets, S.E.
Assistant D.C. Police Chief Winston Robinson said the motive for the stabbing appeared to be robbery, and one of the lead investigators in the case said police have ruled out anti-gay hatred as a motive.
According to police sources, Parrot was in possession of two of Alston’s credit cards and her house and car keys at the time police apprehended him on the 5100 block of Call Place, S.E., about 3 p.m. March 17.
Robinson told the Blade that money appeared to be Parrot’s motive in allegedly killing Alston. Robinson said investigators learned that Parrot had a drug problem and was believed to have been in need of cash at the time of the murder.
Police said there was no evidence of a forced entry into Alston’s apartment. After police arrested Parrot and learned where he lived, investigators discovered Alston knew him as a neighbor and they now believe Alston may have let him in her house to help her move furniture, Robinson said.
Channel 4 News reported that nearby residents said Parrot lived with his wife at his East Capitol Street address and that the wife sometimes took care of Alston’s house while Alston was out of town.
“I can positively rule out a hate crime,” Captain C.V. Morris, one of the lead investigators in the case, said at a news conference after the arrest. Morris said investigators believe Parrot acted alone in Alston’s slaying.
Morris said Alston had been stabbed to death inside her house at 3808 East Capitol Street, N.E., on Wednesday afternoon, March 16. He said police believe the stabbing occurred sometime between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Alston’s partner, Stacey Long, 37, discovered Alston’s body about 5:30 p.m. that day, police said.
Parrot lived at 3804 East Capitol Street, N.E., Morris said.
Police said Alston was stabbed multiple times and suffered a number of defensive wounds, indicating she struggled with her attacker.
“Knowing Wanda, there is no doubt in my mind that she would never go down without a fight,” said Sgt. Brett Parson, commander of the police Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit. Parson was a member of the team of detectives and police officials that investigated the Alston case.
“While the great work of our MPD investigative team can never bring Wanda back, it does provide us with some sense of closure and some sense of resolution to what is a horrible loss to our city,” D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams said at a news conference after Parrot’s arrest.
Earlier in the day, Williams praised Alston, who served on his cabinet, as a highly skilled and hard working adviser.
“Wanda Alston’s contributions to the people of this city were beyond measure,” Williams said. “She was a passionate, energetic woman who often spoke for those who were not able to speak for themselves,” he said. “This is a huge loss for me personally, but beyond that, this is a huge loss for our city. My heart is broken.”
For gay activists, the discovery of Alston’s stolen car at 50th and C Streets, S.E., provided yet another emotional twist to the news of her untimely death. At that same location, transgendered women Stephanie Thomas, 19, and Ukea Davis, 18, died in a hail of bullets fired by unknown assailants in August 2002, as they sat in Thomas’ car. The case remains unsolved.
Seven years earlier, in August 1995, Tyra Hunter, another transgendered woman, died from injuries she received in a car crash at 50th and C Streets, S.E. A Fire Department rescue worker, who arrived on the scene, taunted Hunter after discovering she was transgendered, and interrupted medical treatment. Friends and family members believe the interruption in treatment could have complicated her condition and contributed to her death.
“The intersection is becoming a lodestone of bad luck for the LGBT community,” said Mark Meinke of the D.C. Rainbow History Project.
Morris, the police captain in charge of the Alston murder investigation, said there is no evidence to link the man charged in Alston’s murder with the unsolved murders of Thomas and Davis.
A group of friends and activists who knew Alston held a candlelight vigil in her honor Thursday night in Dupont Circle.
A memorial service for Alston was scheduled for Saturday, March 19, at noon at the Luther Place Memorial Church, 1226 Vermont Ave., N.W. The Unity Fellowship Church, which has a congregation of mostly African-American gays, was organizing the service.
Authorities were scheduled to formally present charges against Parrot in D.C. Superior Court Friday morning.
“Her loss touches many, many people,” said gay D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), at the Thursday news conference. “But the tragedy that I felt this morning is considerably alleviated by the relief that I feel tonight,” he said, after the arrest of a suspect. “And I want to commend the Metropolitan Police Department, Chief Ramsey and everyone who worked on this case—the detectives, the officers—to bring this to what appears to be a summary conclusion in less than 24 hours.”
Related story: Mayor’s gay liaison found slain
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