Tuesday, June 12, 2007

SOUTHEAST

A 15-year-old boy was charged with fatally stabbing a 24-year-old man during an argument last week in Southeast Washington, D.C. police said.

About 9 a.m. Friday, police discovered Deion Laroy Ankrom, 24, suffering from stab wounds in his home in the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road. He was taken to Howard University Hospital and pronounced dead that night.

The next evening, the 15-year-old was charged with second-degree murder. Police are withholding his name because he was charged as a juvenile.

-- Allison Klein

The purse of D.C. Council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) was snatched from her Range Rover while it was parked Sunday at a gas station at Pennsylvania and Branch avenues in Southeast Washington, she said yesterday.

Alexander said the purse contained $500 in cash and her council member identification card, driver's license and credit cards. "I always keep my keys on my person," she said.

After pulling into the station about 6 p.m. and filling a tire, Alexander said she parked in front of a gas pump. Distracted by a man who recognized her as a council member, she forgot to lock her car. When she went to lock her car with her electronic key, she said, she discovered that her purse was missing.

"It happened within seconds," she said, adding that her windows were rolled up.

She said she was carrying a large amount of cash because she was on her way to a trunk show, an event where designers or vendors sell clothes directly to customers and often accept only cash.

Alexander was distraught about the loss of the purse itself -- a linen handbag with a floral print and white leather handle. "I got it from T.J. Maxx a few years ago," she said. "It was my summer signature purse. . . . It was one of those unique bags that you'll never find again."

Alexander said the incident gave her a new appreciation for her ward's problems with crime. "I am a victim," she said.

-- Nikita Stewart