District Man Sentenced to 51-Month Prison Term for Stabbing Girlfriend’s Father in Chest

            WASHINGTON – Justin Wray, 30, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 51 months in prison on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon for stabbing the father of his then-girlfriend in the chest, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced.

            Under what is known as the Alford doctrine, Wray pled guilty in March 2018 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Under an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit the allegations but agrees that the government has enough evidence to secure a conviction.  Wray was sentenced by the Honorable Danya A. Dayson. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, Wray and his girlfriend argued in the early morning of May 4, 2016 at the girlfriend’s apartment in the unit block of Galveston Street SW. Wray then left the residence, but returned a short while later, at approximately 6:40 a.m., to obtain his possessions. The girlfriend’s father let Wray back into the apartment and led Wray to his girlfriend’s bedroom. Soon thereafter, the girlfriend’s father attempted to lead Wray out of the apartment. Wray became extremely agitated. From behind, he reached over the top of his girlfriend’s father’s back and stabbed the father in the chest with a knife. He fled the scene.

            The girlfriend’s father suffered a punctured lung. Wray was arrested on Sept. 10, 2016 and has been in custody ever since. In his plea, Wray said that he had no memory of events but acknowledged that the government had sufficient evidence to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. She also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists T.J. McPhail and Victim/Witness Advocate Elsa Maltese.

            Finally, she commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Manzo, who investigated, indicted and prosecuted the case.