Landscaper Is Slain in SE; Man Charged

Police investigate the slaying of Jose Villatoro, 35, who was cutting grass at the Parkchester housing cooperative when he was fatally shot. Police have arrested Lankward Harrington, 22, who was charged with first-degree murder. (Photos By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

A landscaper who lived in Mount Pleasant was shot and killed yesterday morning as he mowed grass at an apartment complex in Southeast Washington, police and residents said.

Jose Villatoro, 35, was shot several times in the head and body about 11 a.m. in the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, in Anacostia's Parkchester housing cooperative. He died at the scene.

Police said they have not determined a motive. They arrested a suspect minutes after the shooting: Lankward Harrington, 22, who was charged with first-degree murder.

Lt. Robert Glover of the police department's violent crimes branch said the homicide was an "unusual occurrence" in that area because landscapers and other workers generally do not have trouble with residents and visitors in the community.

Neighbors agreed, saying Villatoro, who lived in the 3200 block of Mount Pleasant Street NW, was at the complex simply to do his job.

"These people who come and cut the grass, they don't have money. They're just like us," said Scott D'Angelo, who lives a half-block from the crime scene. "This is just a senseless act of murder."

Police received the first report of the shooting from new technology that recognizes the sound of gunfire. A device known as the "ShotSpotter" recently was installed in the area and helped police pinpoint the location of the shooting.

A landscaper who works for Virginia-based GMI Professional Landscape Services sat on a truck yesterday afternoon with red, watery eyes and bloodstained gloves. He said he worked with Villatoro and was working near him when Villatoro was shot. A man in a GMI landscaping truck, who would not identify himself, instructed the landscaper not to talk to a reporter. He said the company did not want to discuss Villatoro or the shooting.

Parkchester resident Rhonda Pratt, who also lives a half-block from the killing, said she heard three shots about 11 a.m. as she was having breakfast. She said it is common to hear gunfire there, and she did not immediately look outside.

"You hear gunshots and you don't immediately move," Pratt said. "You have to be careful."

D'Angelo, who was with her, went out to see what happened. He said he saw Harrington lying there and a wallet on the ground. The hand-held grass cutter Harrington had been using was still running.

"It gives this whole area a black eye because of what some crazy fool did," D'Angelo said.

Harrington was arrested two blocks away from the scene when officers saw him walking by Thurgood Marshall Academy charter school. He matched the description of the shooter that went out over the police radio: a man wearing a black tank top and carrying a black backpack. Police approached him, searched his bag and found a gun believed to be the murder weapon, Cmdr. Joel Maupin said. A witness identified Harrington as the shooter, police said.

Harrington, of the 200 block of 56th Street NE, was charged with first-degree murder while armed, being a felon in possession of a firearm and other gun-related charges.

Firetrucks came by the scene several hours after the shooting and used hoses to wash away Villatoro's blood. Then the police took down their yellow crime scene tape and reopened the street.

Residents walking back to their apartments had to step over the large wet spot on the pavement where the blood had been. Several made faces and tiptoed over it, then headed home, not looking back.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.