District Woman Pleads Guilty to Fatally Beating Man at Her Apartment in Northeast Washington

            WASHINGTON – Thomasine Bennett, 67, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a charge of voluntary manslaughter for killing her 63-year-old boyfriend earlier this year at her apartment in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.

            Bennett pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The plea agreement, which is contingent upon the Court’s approval, calls for an agreed-upon sentence of 10 years in prison. The Honorable José M. Lopez set a hearing for Sept. 22, 2017 to determine whether to accept the plea and sentence.

            According to a proffer of facts submitted at today’s hearing, on Feb. 17, 2017, at approximately 12:55 p.m., officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) received a call to investigate trouble at an apartment in the 700 block of 21^st Street NE. Upon arrival, officers found the victim, Walter M. Clark, unconscious and unresponsive inside a hallway closet with multiple brises to the body. The District of Columbia Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services transported Mr. Clark to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later determined that Mr. Clark died from multiple blunt force trauma.

            Bennett met police officers when they arrived on the scene. According to the proffer, she stated that her boyfriend was in the back and that he made her smoke “Love Boat” the previous night. She directed officers to the hallway closet. Investigators quoted Bennett as saying that she beat Mr. Clark with a baseball bat over the last day and a half. She was arrested and has been in custody ever since.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Marcey Rinker, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Earnest, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.