Wendy Martinez was jogging near D.C.'s Logan Circle when a stranger stabbed her to death. That man was sentenced Friday to spend three decades in prison.
Just a week before Martinez was killed, she got engaged to be married.
Authorities have said Anthony Crawford, 23, attacked her at random. The 35-year-old was jogging in the 1400 block of 11th Street NW just before 8 p.m. Sept. 18, 2018 when Crawford stabbed her.
Many people in the courtroom Friday for the sentencing hearing were in tears. Martinez's family said that while they were relieved the legal process was over, they will never be satisfied with a punishment for the man who killed Wendy.
"It's very sad to be here, one year after getting engaged, closing this chapter of our lives," Martinez's fiancé, Daniel Hincapie, said.
Her mother said she forgave Crawford.
"We hope he finds peace in the middle of this storm he created," she said.
Crawford himself did not say much. He apologized to his victim's family and to his own family.
The killing sent shockwaves through the District.
Martinez was a Georgetown University graduate and the chief of staff of a software and data company. She was an avid runner who lived three blocks away from the scene of her murder.
“She was full of energy and she was so excited,” her fiancé said after the crime.
Crawford stole a kitchen knife from a local grocery store and encountered Martinez about 20 minutes later. He attacked her at the busy intersection of 11th and P streets, stabbing her seven times.
Martinez managed to get away and stagger into a Chinese takeout restaurant, where she collapsed as strangers tried to save her.
The attack was caught on surveillance video from the restaurant. More video showed Crawford in a nearby grocery store, in the same aisle where the kind of knife used in the attack was sold.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Crawford was arrested the following night and charged with first-degree murder while armed, police said.
A psychologist who analyzed Crawford found that he was competent to stand trial. In June, he accepted a plea deal agreement to spend 30 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised released.
