David Messerschmitt slaying, D.C. police said Wednesday that they have arrested a 21-year-old woman in the killing of an intellectual-property lawyer who was found fatally stabbed in February at a downtown hotel.
Jamyra Gallmon of Southeast Washington has been charged with first-degree felony murder in the slaying of David Messerschmitt, police said.
According to two law enforcement officials, investigators think the motive in the killing was robbery. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because neither was authorized to discuss the case.
On Feb. 9, Messerschmitt sent a text to his wife, Kim Vuong, at 7:34 p.m. saying he would be home in about an hour. That was the last time his family heard from him. His body was found the next morning face down on the floor of a room in the Donovan hotel. He had been stabbed in the back.
A wallet was found next to his head with “various credit cards strewn about” in the fourth-floor hotel room.
Police released a surveillance video of a “person of interest” seen on the hotel stairs and in the lobby about 7:45 p.m., not long after Vuong received a text from her husband.
Messerschmitt, 30, lived with his wife on Capitol Hill and worked for the international law firm DLA Piper. Last week, Vuong appeared at a news conference where she pleaded for the public’s help to find the person who killed her husband.
On Thursday morning, in an emailed statement issued by a family spokesman, Vuong thanked the D.C. Police department for their “hard work and continued diligence.”
“I have faith that the police and the courts will bring justice to David and all who loved him,” she said. She said she would have “no further comment until his case is resolved” and asked for privacy for herself and his family.
Police reports said that Vuong last saw her husband Feb. 8 but that they exchanged text messages the following day.
Messerschmitt was at work at his firm’s office in Gallery Place on Feb. 9 and left about 5:30 p.m., according to a federal judge who is a family friend. Police said he texted his wife about 7:30 to say he would be home in about an hour.
Jamyra Gallmon of Southeast Washington has been charged with first-degree felony murder in the slaying of David Messerschmitt, police said.
According to two law enforcement officials, investigators think the motive in the killing was robbery. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because neither was authorized to discuss the case.
On Feb. 9, Messerschmitt sent a text to his wife, Kim Vuong, at 7:34 p.m. saying he would be home in about an hour. That was the last time his family heard from him. His body was found the next morning face down on the floor of a room in the Donovan hotel. He had been stabbed in the back.
A wallet was found next to his head with “various credit cards strewn about” in the fourth-floor hotel room.
Police released a surveillance video of a “person of interest” seen on the hotel stairs and in the lobby about 7:45 p.m., not long after Vuong received a text from her husband.
Messerschmitt, 30, lived with his wife on Capitol Hill and worked for the international law firm DLA Piper. Last week, Vuong appeared at a news conference where she pleaded for the public’s help to find the person who killed her husband.
On Thursday morning, in an emailed statement issued by a family spokesman, Vuong thanked the D.C. Police department for their “hard work and continued diligence.”
“I have faith that the police and the courts will bring justice to David and all who loved him,” she said. She said she would have “no further comment until his case is resolved” and asked for privacy for herself and his family.
Police reports said that Vuong last saw her husband Feb. 8 but that they exchanged text messages the following day.
Messerschmitt was at work at his firm’s office in Gallery Place on Feb. 9 and left about 5:30 p.m., according to a federal judge who is a family friend. Police said he texted his wife about 7:30 to say he would be home in about an hour.
