Six People Charged in Just Over a Week in Separate Felony Strangulation Cases

            WASHINGTON – Between February 5 and February 13, 2024, in the District of Columbia, six people were arrested and charged with felony strangulation under D.C. Code 22-404.04 which was created through the Prioritizing Public Safety Emergency Amendment Act of 2023. They are among 26 people charged since the D.C. Council created this new criminal offense in the D.C. Code which went into effect in July of 2023.

            The recent cases include:

            On February 13, 2024, Lontez Williams, 40, of D.C. was arrested and charged with strangulation and child cruelty, for allegedly squeezing the neck of a three-year-old child by wrapping his arm around it, and then hurling the child victim into a couch when his family intervened to stop him. Williams was presented to a magistrate judge on February 13, 2024 and was ordered held*. 

            On February 12, 2024, Leonel Bonilla, 27, of D.C., was arrested and charged with strangulation and aggravated assault, for an alleged attack on a female victim in D.C. The victim reported that Bonilla escalated a verbal altercation occurring in a car when he pulled over and grabbed her around the neck so that she could not breathe and eventually lost consciousness.  Bonilla was presented to a magistrate judge on February 12, 2024, and was ordered held*.

            On February 10, 2024, Marc Gatling, 40, of D.C., was arrested for simple assault and charged with strangulation for an alleged attack on a female victim on February 9, 2024, in D.C., that started as a verbal altercation. The victim left the premises but returned to retrieve personal belongings. While she was there, Gatling allegedly tried to prevent her from leaving, eventually pushing her down and strangling her. Gatling was presented to a magistrate judge on February 10^th and was released.

            On February 7, 2024, Ronald McKinnon, 63, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with strangulation and one count of kidnapping for an alleged attack on a female in his home. The victim called 911 after the defendant allegedly assaulted and strangled her and confined her in the basement. McKinnon was presented to a magistrate judge on February 9, 2024, and was ordered held*.

            On February 5, 2024, Michael Alston, 58, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with strangulation and assault with a dangerous weapon after he allegedly punched a 72-year old female, strangled her, and threatened her with a knife. The victim managed to escape. Alston was presented to a magistrate judge and was later released on GPS monitoring.

            On February 5, 2024, Deangelo Dunn, 27, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with strangulation, after allegedly strangling a female victim because she refused to give him money. Dunn was later released.

            “The data shows that people strangled by an intimate partner are 800% more likely to be the victim of a homicide,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. “Recognizing this danger, we advocated for a felony charge for strangulation, and we are grateful that the Council passed, and the Mayor signed, emergency legislation temporarily creating a specific felony. We have aggressively charged this crime since it was enacted in July 2023. Now is the time to make the legislation permanent and to create a presumption that people who engage in this life-threatening conduct will be held in jail after their arrest.”

            In addition to those cases, on January 19, 2024, Joseph Coles, 34, was arrested and charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor, involving a woman he met thru an online dating app. The victim went to Coles’s D.C. home on January 19^th to bring him food. During the visit, the defendant became upset and allegedly began strangling the victim while holding her pinned against a wall. He was released on the simple assault charge and, after further investigation, was charged by superseding complaint with felony strangulation.

            These cases were investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Strangulation is widely recognized as one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence. A major strangulation study in San Diego, which is frequently cited, found: “Many victims suffer internal injuries, including permanent brain damage. Signs and symptoms do exist and can be documented even without visible injury… Most abusers do not strangle to kill. They strangle to show they can kill.  Victims often suffer major long-term emotional and physical impacts. Surviving victims are much more likely to die later if their abuser has strangled them.” The study also noted that “…..the odds of becoming a victim of attempted homicide increased by 700%, and the odds of becoming a homicide victim increased by 800%, among women who had been strangled by their partner.”

            *Defendants that were ordered held had an additional hold-eligible offense since felony strangulation is currently not hold eligible.