What to Know
- Wendy Martinez of Northwest DC was attacked Tuesday evening while jogging.
- She had just gotten engaged a week earlier, her family said. She was chief of staff at a software and data company.
- The crime rate in the area near Logan Circle is relatively low, with few violent crimes reported, DC crime statistics show.
The mother of a woman stabbed to death while jogging in a popular D.C. neighborhood plans to bury her daughter in one of the dresses she would have worn for her wedding.
Wendy Martinez, 35, of Northwest D.C. was out for a run just before 8 p.m. Tuesday in Logan Circle when she was stabbed seven times to the head, neck and back.
She got engaged a week ago and planned to get married here in December, then have a celebration in Colombia, where she once worked. Her mother, Cora Martinez, said they shopped together for the dress for the Colombia celebration.
“I never imagined this was going to happen, and my heart is broken because my daughter was supposed to be married in two months,” she said. “Over the weekend we went to look for her wedding dress, so when I saw my daughter dressing up, or trying out her dress, I never imagined that she was buying the dress for her burial.”
“She was full of energy and she was so excited,” said her fiancé, Daniel Hincapie. “And I was so excited, and it’s a terrible tragedy.”
Martinez was chief of staff of the software and data company FiscalNote. She was an avid runner who lived three blocks away from the scene of her murder.
“One of the last things that she did this year was to train me for my first full marathon early in the summer,” Hincapie said. “So I would like to keep that. I would like to keep running for her and just helping … her community, her projects and all the dreams that she had. Hopefully I will be able to continue that, continue her legacy.”
Wendy Martinez was jogging west on P Street NW and was attacked after arriving at the intersection with 11th Street.
After the stabbing, Martinez went to a nearby carryout restaurant for help.
Her mother described her daughter as a warrior and said she fought to the last second for her life.
“She understood that she had to fight and she got up and she ran into this restaurant and she asked for help, so that makes us so proud she had the energy, the strength and the audacity to fight,” her mother said.
Police say surveillance video of the attacker in a distinct shirt and tips from the public helped them track down the suspect, Anthony Crawford of Northwest D.C., to a park near 14th and Girard streets NW Wednesday night. He was charged with first-degree murder while armed.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Cora Martinez said she forgives Crawford.
“My heart has no room for hate, has no room for resentfulness … I am asking my family to do the same. I am asking Daniel and her friends to do the same. Just let it go,” she said. “Wendy’s at peace, she’s happy, and we want to follow that example.”
At a candlelight vigil Thursday night, Cora Martinez told a crowd of about 200 people that her daughter's legacy "has no ending."
