District police detectives got an abrupt and unexpected break yesterday afternoon in the fatal stabbing of a D.C. Cabinet member when they arrested a man just blocks from where they had recovered her missing car.
Police charged William Parrot Jr., 38, with first-degree murder in the death of Wanda R. Alston, 45, acting director of the mayor's Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs.
Police arrest William Parrot Jr. in Northeast in the slaying of Wanda Alston, an appointee of Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).
(Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)
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Alston was found stabbed to death Wednesday just inside the front door of her house, part of a duplex in the 3800 block of East Capitol Street NE, police said. Police investigators said they saw no obvious signs of forced entry. Alston was stabbed more than five times and had defensive wounds on her arms, indicating she struggled with her attacker, police officials said.
Alston and Parrot were next-door neighbors, but it was not clear last night how well they knew each other. He has lived on the block for about two years, neighbors said, and in August married a woman whose family has owned the house for at least three generations.
"This fella seemed like a nice fella," said Eleanor Brown, 72. "I just don't know. . . . I've never heard of anything like this in my life."
Kimberly Herbert, another resident of the 3800 block, said that Parrot would knock on her door once or twice a week asking for cigarettes or a ride. She said he was polite and easy to talk to, though she didn't know him well.
Herbert said she believed that Parrot was usually at home during the day because he was between jobs. He moved from job to job frequently during the past two years, she said. At one point, he worked at the D.C. morgue, she believed. Officials at the D.C. medical examiner's office could not confirm that last night.
Herbert said that residents of the block are friendly and open their homes to one another. "I guess that's why she thought she could turn her back on him," Herbert said of Alston.
Earlier yesterday, police said they had not been able to find Alston's car, a Nissan Sentra that had been parked in front of her house. But an anonymous tipster called authorities about 2 p.m. to report seeing the car parked in the 5000 block of C Street SE, about a mile from her house, police said. The car's engine was warm when they arrived.
Police were searching the area and preparing to have it towed when they found a witness. At the scene, a man told a reporter and a photographer that the Nissan had been driven by a man who was around the corner.
The witness, who said the man had driven the car that morning, was directed to police detectives. A half-dozen detectives and a uniformed officer walked with the witness about a block to an apartment complex, where the witness pointed out the driver of Alston's car.
Police handcuffed the man and drove him to the department's homicide unit for questioning.
That man, later identified as Parrot, gave statements implicating himself in the crime, police officials said. Detectives recovered two of Alston's credit cards from Parrot's pockets, police officials said.
Police officials declined to discuss other aspects of the investigation, though they said they had a solid case against Parrot. They said they did not know of a motive last night.
"We have the guy, there is no question," Chief Charles H. Ramsey said after a news conference announcing Parrot's arrest. "We have good evidence."
Police said it appeared that Parrot had been acting alone. Police could not say why he was in the Southeast neighborhood where he was arrested.
Top city officials -- including Ramsey, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and City Administrator Robert C. Bobb -- attended the news conference last night and applauded the tipster and the witness, saying they would not have solved the case without them.
The arrest "provides us with some sense of closure and resolution to this horrible loss," Williams told reporters.
At a news conference yesterday, Williams expressed sadness over the killing, saying his "heart is broken."
"Wanda Alston's contributions to the people of this city were beyond measure," he said. "This is a huge loss."
