gaithersblog.net

• 11/01/06 Planning Commission Outcomes
  I’ll update my previous post with the results, and may have a separate post after I’ve had a chance to watch the video. Biggest news is, for the APFO, “Directed staff to prepare a recommendation for further review on November 15, 2006″, and for the Affordable Housing policy, “Recommended approval of Alternative #2 with modifications”. Alternative #2 calls for Olde Towne to be treated separately.
• Full agenda for the 11/06/06 meeting of the Mayor and Council.
  I’ll have a separate post later, it is a huge agenda.
• 11/09/06 Board of Appeals meeting
  Request for a setback variance at 789 Kimberly Court West.
• Notice of a 11/13/06 work session on Affordable Housing Regulations.
  No background materials are yet available.

Man stabs woman, apparent dispute between store employees. Woman is at hospital in extremely critical condition:

Update 10: A fund has now been established for the children of the victim.

Update 5: Note that the NBC 4 story linked below has now been updated with the names of the two parties:

Police said that the victim, 35-year-old Ana Elisa Mejia, and 20-year-old Josue Ray Dupree, who allegedly stabbed her are both employees of the JC Penney store and had been involved in an earlier dispute.

NBC 4 has a story.

Update: Story at WTOP. It happened at J.C. Penny, and the assailant was injured by a car on Lost Knife Road while running away, kept running but was apprehended.

Update 2: The Gazette now has a story up. The woman died at the hospital.

A J.C. Penney employee at Lakeforest mall in Gaithersburg was fatally wounded Thursday afternoon when she was repeatedly stabbed by a co-worker, county police say.

The 35-year-old woman was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at an area hospital. Her identity was unavailable.

Update 3: MCPD has posted a press release on this incident:

Police Investigate Homicide at Lakeforest Mall

Montgomery County Police Major Crimes Division Homicide/Sex Detectives are investigating a homicide that occurred at Lakeforest Mall this afternoon.

At approximately 3:15 p.m., 6th District officers responded to Lakeforest Mall at 701 Russell Avenue in Gaithersburg, for the report of a stabbing that had just occurred. Police were advised by witnesses that a 35-year-old Hispanic female employee of the J.C. Penney store had been stabbed, and that the suspect was a fellow employee of J.C. Penney.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the victim and the suspect, a 20-year-old Gaithersburg man, were involved in a verbal argument, when the suspect displayed a knife, which he used to stab the victim. The suspect then fled J.C. Penney on foot, ran across the mall parking lot, and onto Lost Knife Road. He was struck by a pick-up truck as he ran across Lost Knife Road, but was able to continue running. He was finally caught by police in the 9500 block of Horizon Run Road. The suspect is currently in police custody.

The victim was transported to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead from her injuries.

Detectives are asking anyone who may have information about this incident to call the Homicide/Sex Section at 240-773-5070. Those who wish to remain anonymous should call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Update 4: Ernesto Londoño writes in the Washington Post:

The 20-year-old Gaithersburg man was caught shortly after 3:15 p.m. near the 9500 block of Horizon Sun Road, near the mall. The woman was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police did not immediately identify the victim or the suspect. Both were store employees, police said. A family friend said the victim had three children, ages 2, 10 and 14, and was an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.

Update 6: Chris Robinson writes in the Gazette,

Police have obtained a murder warrant for a 20-year-old Germantown man suspected of fatally stabbing his co-worker at J.C. Penney’s in Lakeforest Mall Thursday afternoon.

Josue Ray Dupree has not been charged, but in a statement county police said they will serve the warrant for first-degree murder after his release from an area hospital. Dupree is being treated for non-life threatening injuries received when a truck hit him as he fled the mall, police said.

J.C. Penney’s closed after the incident Thursday to allow a full police investigation, said company spokesman Tim Lyons by phone from the J.C. Penney’s corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas.

The store opened on its regular schedule Friday, but Lyons noted the gravity of the crime must have shaken the nerves of local employees and customers.

“I think everyone is still trying to come to grips with what happened and to deal with the loss of the associate. We’re trying to rally around the store, the team there and the associate’s family and give all the support we can,“ he said. “Our deepest sympathy goes out to Ana’s family. She was a valued member of our team and I know that her associates at the store will miss her.“

Mariana Berez, an employee at Silver Diner which is located next to J.C. Penney, said her manager was in the retail store when security began ushering people outside. Berez said that ‘‘of course‘‘ the stabbing makes her worried.

‘‘I’m not safe,‘‘ said Berez of Germantown.

Detectives are asking anyone who may have information about the incident to call the homicide detectives at 240-773-5070. Those who wish to remain anonymous should call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Update 7: Ernesto Londoño writes in the Washington Post,

A 20-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a 35-year-old female co-worker at a J.C. Penney store in Gaithersburg was charged yesterday with first-degree murder, Montgomery County police said.

Josue Ray Dupree stabbed Ana Elisa Mejia Avila about 3:15 p.m. Thursday on the loading dock of the department store at Lakeforest Mall, where they worked, police said.

“She was an exemplary mother, and her whole world was her kids,” her brothers said in a statement issued by a family friend. “She loved life to the fullest. Everything she did, she did for her children.”

Mejia’s daughters are 14 and 10, and her son is 2.

If anyone knows of any plans to collect contributions to help Mrs. Mejia’s children please let me know so that I can help to publicize that effort.

Update 8: From the Gazette, Suspect confesses to stabbing at Lakeforest, police report, by Chris Robinson

A Germantown man confessed to police that he planned and executed the murder last week of a woman he worked with at J.C. Penney’s in Lakeforest Mall, according to police charging documents.

His motive is not clear.

Police on Friday charged Josue Ray Dupree, 20, of Stevenson Drive, with the first-degree murder for the death of Ana Elisa Mejia Avila, 35, also of Germantown. He currently is being held without bond at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg.

Update 9: Chris Robinson writes in the Gazette:

A county prosecutor said a stabbing death at Lakeforest mall early this month may have been a random act.

‘‘This appears to be a crime with no reason,” Assistant State’s Attorney Damon Bell said during a bond hearing for the alleged killer last week.

Bell told the court that for some unknown reason Avila became the object of Dupree’s anger that day and requested the suspect continue to be held without bond.

‘‘This was, quite frankly, a monstrous act by Mr. Dupree,” Bell said. ‘‘He is a danger to everyone in the community.”

He is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1.

As discussed on the New MoCo Progressive, the County released summary crime statistics earlier this week. The County has now finally released the detailed statistics, which are available as a PDF or as an Excel spreadsheet. Some of the numbers are stunning, such as a 179% increase in robberies, and a 9.3% overall increase in crime, in the Wheaton district (District 4). The worst increase was in Silver Spring, with a 9.8% overall increase, quarter-to-quarter. Montgomery Village (District 6, which includes Gaithersburg) was about in the middle, with a 7.9% overall increase. The lowest increase was recorded in the Rockville district, at 2.1%.

What is missing from the numbers is per capita comparisons among districts. Does anyone have statistics for population by Police District?

Update: mocoprogressive also has a post on this.

Update: Thanks to Cathy I was able to do a bit of analysis of these statistics. I’ve prepared three tables below. The first table is crimes per 100,000 persons. I used Cathy’s figures for the population in each district to get a sense of where the crime rates are the worst (and the best). The second table is “Frequency compared to Bethesda”. Since Bethesda has the lowest crime rate overall, for each type of crime I divided each district’s per-100,000 crime rate by Bethesda’s to come up with a ratio. I color coded them to give an indication of the trouble areas.

The third table is just the percentage-change figures extracted from the County’s table, but color coded again to get a quick sense of where things are getting worse. Please note that the color coding thresholds in the “Total Crime” line row are different than for the remainder of the table. The districts in the table are:

1: Rockville
2: Bethesda
3: Silver Spring
4: Wheaton
5: Germantown
6: MV/Gaithersburg

I apologize for the bitmapped format; after struggling with getting Excel to produce a usable html fragment, I just gave up and made a picture so that I could post something.