Photo courtesy of the mypambeachpost.com | Wendy Martinez was jogging in D.C. when she was stabbed in the face.
35-year-old Wendy Karina Martinez was fatally stabbed while jogging in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18. She later died at a nearby hospital.
Martinez was jogging at the intersection of P and 11th streets when suspect Anthony Crawford allegedly stabbed her seven times in the face. She then stumbled her way to a nearby Chinese restaurant where customers attempted to help her with her injuries.
Surveillance footage and tips from the local community led to the arrest of Crawford the next night.
Crawford has a criminal past but nothing that indicated a history of violence. He also has a home in the neighborhood. He is currently not cooperating with investigators.
The murder comes on the heels of the murders of 20-year-old Molly Tibbetts and 22-year-old Celia Barquin.
They were students at the University of Iowa and Iowa State, respectively, and were killed in Iowa. Tibbets was murdered while jogging, and Barquin was killed while golfing alone on campus.
Despite the recent increase in violence toward college-aged women, criminal justice major Elaina Dunbar said, “I mean, there’s always bad stuff happening.”
“On campus, yeah, I feel safe” Sophia Dallas, an accounting major, said. “But outside campus, that’s when you have to travel in groups.”
“It’s a girl’s duty to stick together,” criminal justice major Ariana Lucero said.
“It shouldn’t have to be… but it is,” Dunbar added.
Martinez was buried on Tuesday. She was laid to rest in the wedding dress she picked out for a ceremony in Colombia.
By: Alana Belmont | Guest Writer