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D.C. woman charged with murder while presumed victim remains missing

Lashawn Washington, charged in an indictment with killing Chyna Crawford, pleaded not guilty and was ordered detained; Crawford disappeared in October.

By Keith L. Alexander | 2024-03-27

A photo of Chyna Crawford, who has been missing since October, in Silver Spring, Md. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

A 32-year-old D.C. woman was arrested on a murder charge Wednesday in a homicide investigation centered on another woman who disappeared in October and remains missing, authorities said.

A grand jury in D.C. Superior Court indicted Lashawn Washington, of Southeast Washington, on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and obstruction of justice involving the case of Chyna Crawford, 25, who was reported missing Oct. 26. Crawford's family members and friends posted fliers around the District asking people to contact police if they had any information on her whereabouts.

Nearly 30 members of Crawford's family filled three rows of a courtroom in Superior Court as Washington made her initial appearance Wednesday. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered detained.

A month after Crawford vanished, D.C. police upgraded the case from a missing-person inquiry and assigned senior homicide detectives to investigate, even though there was no clear evidence at the time that Crawford had been killed.

Crawford's mother, Elisa, tears up as she discusses the possible fate of her daughter in November. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Prosecutors and detectives eventually presented evidence to the grand jury, which returned the indictment. No publicly available charging documents, which usually contain details of the evidence in a case, have been filed in court. Based on the charges, however, prosecutors appear to suspect that Crawford was killed in the course of a kidnapping, robbery or attempted robbery.

She was last seen in the 1600 block of Good Hope Road SE, authorities said.

Derrick Crawford, a brother of the missing woman, said he had known nothing about Washington before his sister's disappearance. But afterward, he said, Washington posted on social media that "I miss my friend" and "I hope she comes home soon."

Derrick Crawford and his mother, Elisa Crawford, sat in the courtroom as several deputy U.S. marshals ushered Washington before Magistrate Judge Heide Herrmann, who ordered Washington to be held in D.C. jail until her next hearing April 5.

Washington's attorney, Jesse Winograd, entered the plea of not guilty on her behalf. Court officials said Washington was also charged with being a fugitive from justice in Virginia, where she is wanted in a larceny case.

Interest in the missing woman prompted about 700 people to watch the hearing via a video feed, Herrmann said. Court officials cut off the video feed to the public after viewers began posting comments and taking photographs of the courtroom and posting them on social media, the judge said.

After the hearing, Crawford's brother said he had been hoping his sister would be found alive. He had talked about her in the present tense. But when detectives told him that they were charging Washington with murder, "I realized then she was no longer with us," he said.

Elisa Crawford, standing next to her son outside the courtroom, said she was happy about the arrest, which brought "some closure to my daughter's case."

"I'm sad," she said. "But this is confirmation that my daughter is dead and someone is being held responsible."


This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/27/missing-chyna-crawford-murder-arrested/


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