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WASHINGTON (AP) — A 21-year-old woman charged in the stabbing death of a lawyer at a boutique Washington hotel told police she intended to rob the man but stabbed him in his room when he tried to prevent her from leaving, a court document filed Thursday said.
Jamyra Gallmon of Washington was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder while armed. She was ordered held during a court hearing Thursday and a preliminary hearing was set for April 10.
A court document filed Thursday says Gallmon told police that she went to The Donovan hotel on Feb. 9 with the intention of robbing 30-year-old David Messerschmitt but stabbed him with a knife after he grabbed her arm and they started fighting. An autopsy found Messerschmitt was stabbed at least seven times, including once through the heart.
Gallmon's attorney, Matthew F. Davies, did not immediately respond to a telephone message requesting comment Thursday afternoon.
A police investigation found Messerschmitt posted on Craigslist the day he was killed, "soliciting responses from other men," the court document shows. Messerschmitt communicated through Craigslist with a person using the username "chrissanchez0906," an investigation found, but police learned the account was linked to Gallmon. Messerschmitt invited the person he was communicating with to a room at The Donovan hotel, according to police.
Police identified Gallmon on surveillance video from the hotel. In addition, an investigation found that Gallmon's cellphone was in the vicinity of the hotel during the time frame in which Messerschmitt was killed and "numerous pieces of evidence related to the homicide" were found during a search of her apartment Wednesday, the court document says.
During the search, police found a folding pocket knife and a pack of small, multicolored zip ties. Police also found colored zip ties attached to Messerschmitt's fingers when they found his body Feb. 10 and the zip ties "appeared to be affixed together into makeshift handcuffs," the court document says.
Gallmon acknowledged she brought zip ties to the hotel room but denied using them, the document says. She told police that the door to Messerschmitt's room was open when she arrived. She also said she stole Messerschmitt's Metro card and cash and that she threw the bloody clothes that she wore that day in a sewer.
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