Separate Attacks Took Place Last Summer
WASHINGTON - Linda Washington, 53, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 12 years in prison in connection with a pair of attacks she carried out last summer against her ex-boyfriend, including one with a knife and one with sulfuric acid, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips.
Washington pled guilty in March 2017, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon (knife) and one count of aggravated assault while armed (chemical substance). She was sentenced by the Honorable Marisa Demeo. Following her prison term, she will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, late in the evening on July 24, 2016, Washington drove to the Northeast Washington home of her ex-boyfriend to retrieve hedge trimmers that she had loaned him. During a verbal confrontation in the alley behind his home, Washington pulled out a butcher’s knife and ran toward the victim with it. In fear, the victim ran away and jumped over a side fence into his neighbor’s yard. Washington then entered the victim’s house, where the victim’s daughter was sleeping, and took his house keys. She left with the knife. The victim’s home security camera captured the incident.
Early on Sept. 1, 2016, Washington again approached her ex-boyfriend, this time in a parking lot outside Washington’s residence in Southeast Washington. As he attempted to enter his vehicle, Washington threw a plastic cup full of El Diablo drain cleaner on him, covering his face, neck, chest, and arm. An FBI chemist determined that the bulk of the liquid contained sulfuric acid. The victim suffered devastating injuries-including lifelong disfigurement-and spent nearly a month at The Burn Center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
Judge Demeo sentenced Washington to two years of incarceration for the July 24th knife attack, and a consecutive ten years for the September 1st sulfuric acid attack.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips praised the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the FBI Laboratory and The Burn Center at Medstar Washington Hospital Center. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Elsa Maltese, and Paralegal Specialists Tiffany Jones and D’Yvonne Key. Finally, he commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Timmer and J. Matt Williams, who prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
