A man living in Northeast Washington told police he cut off a handyman’s head and arms, then disposed of some of the remains in his backyard, where they went undetected for three months, authorities said in court documents filed Thursday.
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Police said Lavaughn Barnes, a 32-year-old man with no criminal record, told investigators he put the victim’s head, arms and personal documents in a trash bag that apparently was picked up by the city and taken to a landfill. Authorities said the killing appears to have been random.
The rest of the remains were found Feb. 3 in a trash bag in an overgrowth of brush and bamboo behind a duplex in the 1300 block of Kearny Street in Northeast Washington’s Brookland neighborhood, where Barnes lived in the basement, according to police.
Police said they charged Barnes with first-degree murder, though prosecutors later changed that to second-degree murder.
According to the court documents, Barnes said he felt angry for no known reason, and came forward later about the killing — after first reporting it as if he had merely discovered the remains — because he had “repented to God for his actions.” Police said Barnes told a detective he felt sick and added, “I did it.”
Efforts to reach Barnes’s relatives were not successful. A person other than Barnes owns the home, according to tax records. That person also could not be reached.
At a hearing Thursday in D.C. Superior Court, Barnes’s defense attorney, Anthony Matthews, argued police had “no probable cause” to charge his client, and questioned the reliability of his statements to detectives, calling them “suspect at best.”
But Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond ordered Barnes detained pending a hearing March 29, pointing in part to his statements to police.
“This appears incredibly random,” Raymond said. “The decedent just happened to be there. The extra step of beheading the decedent and removing his limbs — for no reason that Mr. Barnes can himself point to — scream out that there is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the safety of the community.”
Police said they have not positively identified the victim and have not reached relatives, though court documents list the name of a man who had been doing work at the Kearny Street house and had an expired passport from Guatemala. He had been wearing a light-colored shirt and blue pants with a pouch on the left side of his belt.
The court documents state that a man with that description appears in a Google Street View image of the house taken in July, his back turned to the camera as he walked near the side of the duplex. Police said they found an abandoned Jeep Cherokee used by the handyman parked on the street.
An image from Google Street View shows a man police believe was killed in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast D.C. (Google Street View)
Police said the medical examiner has not determined a cause of death, though there are indications the victim had stab wounds and a gunshot wound. Police described the remains found as skeletal and “mummified.” Police said they consulted forestry experts, who estimated the remains had been there since November, based on the growth of the bamboo around the plastic bag.
The discovery of the remains on Feb. 3, and a large police response that stayed for several days, prompted concern on the residential street south of the Catholic University of America campus, in a neighborhood with little violent crime. Residents discussed the case on a private Facebook chat group, though little information was then known.
“It sounds a little creepy,” said Raul Ortiz, 70, who lives a few houses down from where the remains were found. “That’s not something that happens every day. You have incidents like car break-ins that happen a lot, but this feels more like it was personal.”
Scott Cory, 61, who has lived in Brookland since 2008, said “the allegation of murder was floated around” in the days after the discovery. “Having a crime like that in your neighborhood is disturbing,” he said.
Police said the remains were found after Barnes’s sister told him to clean up the bamboo overgrowth in the yard the morning of Feb. 3. The court documents say Barnes then told his sister he had found remains of a body, and they both called police.
At that time, police said they did not suspect Barnes. They said he became a suspect as the investigation progressed, and he eventually called investigators back to the house and began telling them his account. Barnes’s sister told police her brother was “mentally challenged” and “sometimes slow to respond when questioned.”
Police said the remains showed evidence of a “mechanical cutting” and “chop” marks where body parts had been severed. Police said Barnes told him he used a stun gun to knock out the victim inside the house, causing him to fall and cut open his head. Court documents said Barnes told police he then went to a store and purchased an ax.
The court documents also say that police using cadaver dogs found evidence of blood in the basement where Barnes lived, as well as on the rear basement door and the back porch of the house. Police said the dogs also showed interest in a utility sink inside the home.
Police said they also found a machete, a large fixed blade knife, four folding knives, brass knuckles, a stun gun, a drain lid, kitchen knives and cleaning agents.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.
Police said Lavaughn Barnes, a 32-year-old man with no criminal record, told investigators he put the victim’s head, arms and personal documents in a trash bag that apparently was picked up by the city and taken to a landfill. Authorities said the killing appears to have been random.
The rest of the remains were found Feb. 3 in a trash bag in an overgrowth of brush and bamboo behind a duplex in the 1300 block of Kearny Street in Northeast Washington’s Brookland neighborhood, where Barnes lived in the basement, according to police.
Police said they charged Barnes with first-degree murder, though prosecutors later changed that to second-degree murder.
According to the court documents, Barnes said he felt angry for no known reason, and came forward later about the killing — after first reporting it as if he had merely discovered the remains — because he had “repented to God for his actions.” Police said Barnes told a detective he felt sick and added, “I did it.”
Efforts to reach Barnes’s relatives were not successful. A person other than Barnes owns the home, according to tax records. That person also could not be reached.
At a hearing Thursday in D.C. Superior Court, Barnes’s defense attorney, Anthony Matthews, argued police had “no probable cause” to charge his client, and questioned the reliability of his statements to detectives, calling them “suspect at best.”
But Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond ordered Barnes detained pending a hearing March 29, pointing in part to his statements to police.
“This appears incredibly random,” Raymond said. “The decedent just happened to be there. The extra step of beheading the decedent and removing his limbs — for no reason that Mr. Barnes can himself point to — scream out that there is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the safety of the community.”
Police said they have not positively identified the victim and have not reached relatives, though court documents list the name of a man who had been doing work at the Kearny Street house and had an expired passport from Guatemala. He had been wearing a light-colored shirt and blue pants with a pouch on the left side of his belt.
The court documents state that a man with that description appears in a Google Street View image of the house taken in July, his back turned to the camera as he walked near the side of the duplex. Police said they found an abandoned Jeep Cherokee used by the handyman parked on the street.
An image from Google Street View shows a man police believe was killed in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast D.C. (Google Street View)
Police said the medical examiner has not determined a cause of death, though there are indications the victim had stab wounds and a gunshot wound. Police described the remains found as skeletal and “mummified.” Police said they consulted forestry experts, who estimated the remains had been there since November, based on the growth of the bamboo around the plastic bag.
The discovery of the remains on Feb. 3, and a large police response that stayed for several days, prompted concern on the residential street south of the Catholic University of America campus, in a neighborhood with little violent crime. Residents discussed the case on a private Facebook chat group, though little information was then known.
“It sounds a little creepy,” said Raul Ortiz, 70, who lives a few houses down from where the remains were found. “That’s not something that happens every day. You have incidents like car break-ins that happen a lot, but this feels more like it was personal.”
Scott Cory, 61, who has lived in Brookland since 2008, said “the allegation of murder was floated around” in the days after the discovery. “Having a crime like that in your neighborhood is disturbing,” he said.
Police said the remains were found after Barnes’s sister told him to clean up the bamboo overgrowth in the yard the morning of Feb. 3. The court documents say Barnes then told his sister he had found remains of a body, and they both called police.
At that time, police said they did not suspect Barnes. They said he became a suspect as the investigation progressed, and he eventually called investigators back to the house and began telling them his account. Barnes’s sister told police her brother was “mentally challenged” and “sometimes slow to respond when questioned.”
Police said the remains showed evidence of a “mechanical cutting” and “chop” marks where body parts had been severed. Police said Barnes told him he used a stun gun to knock out the victim inside the house, causing him to fall and cut open his head. Court documents said Barnes told police he then went to a store and purchased an ax.
The court documents also say that police using cadaver dogs found evidence of blood in the basement where Barnes lived, as well as on the rear basement door and the back porch of the house. Police said the dogs also showed interest in a utility sink inside the home.
Police said they also found a machete, a large fixed blade knife, four folding knives, brass knuckles, a stun gun, a drain lid, kitchen knives and cleaning agents.
