Woman Fatally Stabbed at Bus Stop

Morning Robbery on Third Street Is Under Investigation

A 40-year-old hotel housekeeper was robbed and fatally stabbed in Northwest Washington yesterday morning as she waited for a Metrobus to take her to work, according to police and the victim's sister.

Delfa Hercules, a Salvadoran immigrant who lived with her sister and husband in a rowhouse in the 200 block of Florida Avenue, was attacked about 7 a.m. while waiting for a bus in the 1700 block of Third Street, near her home, police and her sister, Rosa Hercules, said.

"Someone assaulted her right there," Rosa Hercules said last night. "They took everything and stabbed her in the chest."

Police said Hercules tried to walk back to the rowhouse, leaving a trail of blood from the bus stop to the front of her home, where she collapsed. Rosa Hercules said her sister was taken to a hospital, where she died.

The slaying was under investigation last night.

Rosa Hercules said her sister came to the United States from El Salvador a decade ago, leaving a daughter, now 12, behind. She said her sister's husband, Hernan Guevara, was too upset to speak about his wife last night. A family friend said he was sedated.

Guevara came home later in the morning and noticed that the block had been cordoned off by police, Rosa Hercules said. She said the first hint he got that his wife had been attacked was seeing her blood-stained scarf on the pavement.

Police urged anyone with information about the attack to call 202-727-9099 or 888-919-CRIM. Anonymous information also can be sent to the department by text message at 50411. The department offers a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to a conviction in a homicide case.

"She was a very happy person," Rosa Hercules said of her sister. "She loved life. She loved going out with her husband and going to the airport" to watch planes land. "We all lived here quietly together."