District Man Sentenced To 16-Year Prison Term For Stabbing Victim He Met Through Dating Chat Line-Defendant Suddenly Attacked Victim, Stabbing Him Multiple Times-

     WASHINGTON – Lamar Brown, 37, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to a 16-year prison term for the brutal stabbing of a man in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced today.

     Brown pled guilty in November 2013, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to a charge of assault with intent to kill while armed.  He was sentenced on Jan. 31, 2014 by the Honorable Ronna L. Beck, who cited the viciousness of the attack. Upon completion of his prison term, Brown will be placed on five years of supervised release.

     According to the government’s evidence, on July 31, 2012, at about 7:55 a.m., Brown stabbed the victim multiple times in the eye, face, neck, body, and hands while inside the victim’s home in Northeast Washington. Brown and the victim had met two or three weeks earlier on a dating chat line. In the time leading to the stabbing, they were in communication via text message and phone conversations.  They also spent one night together prior to the stabbing. During the entirety of Brown’s interactions with the victim, the defendant used a fake name. 

     On the night before the stabbing, Brown went to the victim’s home and spent the night.  Early the following morning, on July 31, 2012, Brown received a phone call. When the phone rang, Brown went into the bathroom.  The victim remained in bed, falling in and out of sleep.  The victim then awoke to the defendant stabbing him in the back of the neck with a knife. The victim rolled over and began struggling. During the struggle, Brown stabbed the victim multiple times in the eye, face, neck, body, and hands.  The victim was able to get away and tried to call the police, but Brown ordered him to put down the phone and threatened to kill him.

     The victim ran out of his apartment and banged on the doors of nearby apartments.  Brown fled the scene and discontinued use of the phone he had used to contact the victim.

     Brown’s use of a false name originally resulted in the wrong man being arrested for this offense.  That man was released once emergency cell phone records obtained by the government exonerated him. Cell phone records and other investigation, meanwhile, led to the identification and arrest of Brown.  Brown had been released from Virginia state prison less than a month before this attack after serving 18 years of incarceration. He was arrested on Aug. 20, 2012. 

     In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen commended the work of the detectives, officers, and crime scene technicians who investigated the case for the Metropolitan Police Department as well as the deputy marshals who worked on the case from the U.S. Marshals Service. He also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Joyce Arthur and Tiffany Jones and Criminal Investigator Nelson Rhone.  Lastly, Mr. Machen thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jodi Lazarus and Michelle Parikh, who investigated and prosecuted the case.