LOCAL

D.C. tribute for Alston
Drugs, not hate, said to be motivation for suspect in murder

LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Friday, March 25, 2005

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and dozens of top city officials joined close to 1,000 people Monday, March 21, for a funeral service for Wanda Alston, the slain city cabinet member who headed Williams’ Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Affairs.

Williams, who was among several people who spoke at the service at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Northwest Washington, said Alston had a deep commitment to serve all of the city’s residents, especially those she perceived to be disadvantaged.

“Wanda knew deeply in her heart that the commandment of God was to love others unconditionally,” Williams said. “She did that. Her love was unconditional.”

The mayor and other speakers, including D.C. Council Chair Linda Cropp and D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Homes Norton, said they struggled to make sense out of what appeared to be a senseless act of violence that ended Alston’s life.

Alston, 45, was found stabbed to death in her house at 3808 East Capitol Street, NE, about 5:30 p.m., on Wednesday, March 16. The next day, police charged William M. Parrott, Jr., 38, who lived two doors away from Alston, with first-degree murder while armed. Police said Parrott was a crack cocaine user and that his motive for the killing was to steal Alston’s money or possessions so he could buy more drugs.

Friends and well-wishers said the diversity of the large crowd at the funeral Monday reflected the constituency that Alston served during her years as a mayoral aide, Democratic Party and gay community activist, and official with the National Organization for Women.

Norton, who spoke at the service, noted that gays and straights, blacks and whites, women and men flocked to the service to share their love for Alston.

“Wanda would call this a meeting and say, ‘Let’s get something done,’” Norton said. “So if you knew Wanda, you should leave here and go out and get something done.”

Patricia Ireland, former president of the National Organization for Women, recounted how Alston began working for her as an administrative aide in 1992, shortly after Alston completed a recovery program for cocaine addition. Ireland said Alston moved up the ranks at NOW, honing her skills and learning the ins and outs of local and national politics.

Ireland and others who knew Alston said she became a hardscrabble task master who was both tough and caring. Norton called her “the cat that roared.”

Among those attending were D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, nearly the entire top echelon of the Williams administration, and 11 of the 13 members of the D.C. Council, including gay Councilmembers David Catania (I-At-Large) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). Councilmembers Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) and Carol Schwartz (R-At-Large) were out of town and unable to attend the service.

Also attending were Alston’s mother and siblings, who live in Alston’s hometown of Newport News, Va. Her burial was scheduled to take place in Newport News on Tuesday, March 22, at Greenlawn Cemetery.

Wedding had been planned
Stacey Long, Alston’s partner who had planned to marry her in 2006, sat prominently at the front of the church, near Alston’s family. Most of the speakers at the service mentioned Long’s relationship with Alston, saying the two had a bright and happy future together that ended with Alston’s tragic death.

“There are those times when someone’s death is tragic and senseless,” said the Rev. Sylvia Sumpter, pastor of Unity Church of Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill, the house of worship where Alston was a member.

“We are here today to reflect on our faith in God,” said Sumpter, who delivered the eulogy. “Wanda’s living was not in vain. It had a purpose. It had meaning. … Wanda answered God’s call.

“Let us not mourn her death. Let us celebrate her life. … If we do, she will not be lost to us. She belongs to God. She’s not lost, she’s found. … She is and always will be in your hearts.”

Police praised members of the public and the media for helping them locate Alston’s stolen car, which proved to be the lead they needed to identify and arrest a suspect in the case.

At his court arraignment on March 18, the U.S. Attorney’s office submitted a criminal affidavit stating that Parrott had waived his Miranda rights after police arrested him near where he allegedly drove Alston’s stolen car. Police found him in possession of Alston’s house and car keys, and two of her credit cards.

Police also found him in possession of a knife that he allegedly used to stab Alston at least eight times in the chest, neck and back, as well as multiple times in her arms and hands as she tried to defend herself, the affidavit says.

“The defendant acknowledged that he was Ms. Alston’s neighbor, and that he and Ms. Alston had a cordial relationship,” the affidavit says. “The defendant stated that on the day of the murder, he ingested crack cocaine, took a knife from his kitchen drawer, and went to Ms. Alston’s home. … The defendant described that he remembered Ms. Alston letting him into her home, jumping on Ms. Alston, and that he was armed with the knife when he did so. The defendant stated that he thought he hurt Ms. Alston.”

The affidavit says Parrott agreed to waive his rights and to give a videotaped statement to detectives with the D.C. police department’s Violent Crimes Branch. According to his statement, he took two of Alston’s credit cards and used them to sell gas to citizens at several gas stations in D.C. and Maryland, the affidavit says. He said he used cash he obtained from the sales proceeds “to buy more crack cocaine,” the affidavit states.

Parrott, who was ordered held without bond, was scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on April 6 for a preliminary hearing. If convicted of the charge of first-degree murder while armed, he faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison without parole and a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.

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