Two child homicides in Cleveland Park/Van Ness apartment buildings in eight days

[Anonymous]

Please show me a house or condo that will fit a family of 5 with a dual income before taxes of $140k, in Ward 3. We are already paying $2k a month for daycare. We can’t afford a mortgage currently higher than our rent of $2200 which is already insanely cheap and only because we had the benefit of finding an outdated unit in a rent controlled building. I’ll wait for your links to those available houses/condos.

[Anonymous]

And we moved out of Sedgwick in 2018.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a good question and I’m not sure of the exact answer. I imagine that many buildings in the city are taking in voucher recipients. But because Ward 3 in particular is the demographic that it is, it’s more noticeable when there are issues? Also Conn Ave has lots of older rent controlled buildings, is close to bus lines and metro, lots of grocery stores, so it is a desirable place to live. When we lived in Sedgwick we met with our ANC rep to talk about the issues. She said landlords can get more money from DC for voucher recipients than they can compared to market rate. So they made money. DARO was the worst offender. When we moved into Sedgwick in 2010 the building was full of older folks who had lived there for 20 years plus. They all got pushed out.

We also need places for teachers and public employees to live. We already have a hiring crisis. They are forcing out the middle with this program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please show me a house or condo that will fit a family of 5 with a dual income before taxes of $140k, in Ward 3. We are already paying $2k a month for daycare. We can’t afford a mortgage currently higher than our rent of $2200 which is already insanely cheap and only because we had the benefit of finding an outdated unit in a rent controlled building. I’ll wait for your links to those available houses/condos.

I'm

Why stay in Ward 3 instead of moving to say Wheaton?

Agree that owning a place in upper NW v tough on that salary (or most salaries...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was on grand jury late last year which wrapped up this summer. It’s astounding how many defendants were repeat offenders who nonetheless committed additional crimes while pending trials or some other court proceedings. When will this stop. DC is a joke all the way around.

+1. I was on a grand jury.a few years ago. A significant number of the crimes were committed by individuals who were either convicted felons or were out on release awaiting trial for another offense. Many also involved possession of illegal guns. It really made me think about how many felons are out walking around or riding Metro in DC every day.

Ward 3 needs to start being more welcoming.

More people need to be welcome to kill children?

I suppose you think they should only be in the other wards?

Save your dog whistles for another thread, pls. This is a tragedy about a dead child. Stop with the petty bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DC ME’s office is extremely dysfunctional, and has gone through years long stints without accreditation, are you unfamiliar with its history?

Much like the 911 call center whose incompetence has resulted in quite a few deaths.

In this case, a violent child killer is now released due to their incompetence. I do expect him to be arrested and convicted eventually, hopefully without harming the girls in the meantime.

The USAO did not object, they are not good re: dv in particular and are weak on crime overall. Had they prosecuted the felony dv case, the one another judge ordered him held for and for which a grand jury found probable cause, the boy would’ve alive.

How are the kids at Murch doing? Cannot fathom explaining something like this to a kindergarter.

Parent of a kindergartener at Murch. This has been so upsetting and difficult. We saw Deandre at morning drop offs. Never with a parent. His sisters walked him to school. I never noticed any evidence of him being abused or any of the kids looking like they were suffering from their living situation. There are many families still living in that same building and staff from the school lives there, too. My family has been displaced from buildings that have gotten unsafe - we used to live in Sedgwick Gardens from 2010 to 2018 when it got REALLY bad. Then moved to the Brandywine - same shit. Now we live in another smaller building on Conn Ave that has some voucher recipients but not many. We do not make enough money to afford a condo or house in NW DC (GS 9s) but live here because we felt it was the safest place to raise kids. Now I'm not so sure.

What kind of problems did you have at the Brandywine? I've looked there but they never had anything available when I was ready to move.

You don't want to live there. The police presence is almost constant, look at MPD crime cards for the address, there has been a lot of violence there in recent years. Forest Hills Connect has written some pieces on the problems there and nearby, scroll down to the comments.

Murch parent, how old are the sisters? I hope they stay safe. A stay away order piece of paper won't mean much to someone who can kill a very young child with his bare hands.

Former Murch parent here, it used to be very safe, including the large buildings. Sadly it has changed a lot in recent years. Prioritizing felons/"returning citizens" for vouchers is problematic, the rampant drug dealing in and around buildings also attracts violence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The same issues we were experiencing in Sedgwick Gardens. DV in the halls, cops are always at the building, someone stabbed someone else in the lobby, lots of weed - which I’m not against marijuana use but the smell was in the halls and our apt constantly. A child fell out of an 8 story window while we were there. Also just a general feeling of not being safe in your own building. Neighbors are rude, not friendly. The Brandywine is a huge building and we still have friends who live there who don’t experience the same issues and I think it’s because they were in a different wing.

In two months there will be a marijuana dispensary walking distance from Sedgwick Gardens where anyone can get their early onset glaucoma treated without a doctor thanks to DC’s patient friendly and well thought out marijuana laws.

Light it up!

If I were a parent who was paying to send my kid to UDC I’d be furious that they approved an on campus dispensary.

It's up the street actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please show me a house or condo that will fit a family of 5 with a dual income before taxes of $140k, in Ward 3. We are already paying $2k a month for daycare. We can’t afford a mortgage currently higher than our rent of $2200 which is already insanely cheap and only because we had the benefit of finding an outdated unit in a rent controlled building. I’ll wait for your links to those available houses/condos.

I'm

Why stay in Ward 3 instead of moving to say Wheaton?

Agree that owning a place in upper NW v tough on that salary (or most salaries...)

Why would anyone want to move to Wheaton? Just to buy a house? Nothing wrong with renting in a good neighborhood with decent schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The same issues we were experiencing in Sedgwick Gardens. DV in the halls, cops are always at the building, someone stabbed someone else in the lobby, lots of weed - which I’m not against marijuana use but the smell was in the halls and our apt constantly. A child fell out of an 8 story window while we were there. Also just a general feeling of not being safe in your own building. Neighbors are rude, not friendly. The Brandywine is a huge building and we still have friends who live there who don’t experience the same issues and I think it’s because they were in a different wing.

In two months there will be a marijuana dispensary walking distance from Sedgwick Gardens where anyone can get their early onset glaucoma treated without a doctor thanks to DC’s patient friendly and well thought out marijuana laws.

Light it up!

If I were a parent who was paying to send my kid to UDC I’d be furious that they approved an on campus dispensary.

It's up the street actually.

The weed shop is actually directly between the UDC College of Arts and Sciences and the UDC Law School. I mean, the optics of this couldn’t be worse and just show how unserious the DC Council is.

https://www.udc.edu/about/campus-map/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DC ME’s office is extremely dysfunctional, and has gone through years long stints without accreditation, are you unfamiliar with its history?

Much like the 911 call center whose incompetence has resulted in quite a few deaths.

In this case, a violent child killer is now released due to their incompetence. I do expect him to be arrested and convicted eventually, hopefully without harming the girls in the meantime.

The USAO did not object, they are not good re: dv in particular and are weak on crime overall. Had they prosecuted the felony dv case, the one another judge ordered him held for and for which a grand jury found probable cause, the boy would’ve alive.

How are the kids at Murch doing? Cannot fathom explaining something like this to a kindergarter.

Parent of a kindergartener at Murch. This has been so upsetting and difficult. We saw Deandre at morning drop offs. Never with a parent. His sisters walked him to school. I never noticed any evidence of him being abused or any of the kids looking like they were suffering from their living situation. There are many families still living in that same building and staff from the school lives there, too. My family has been displaced from buildings that have gotten unsafe - we used to live in Sedgwick Gardens from 2010 to 2018 when it got REALLY bad. Then moved to the Brandywine - same shit. Now we live in another smaller building on Conn Ave that has some voucher recipients but not many. We do not make enough money to afford a condo or house in NW DC (GS 9s) but live here because we felt it was the safest place to raise kids. Now I'm not so sure.

This is so sad. I am sorry.

Why are so many homeless families being moved to Connecticut Avenue buildings? Just curious why especially if the buildings are having so many issues?

Because the Ward 3 councilman invited them here and the mayor is more than happy to oblige. This crisis will live on long after they’re both out of office, which many longtime neighbors hope is soon.

Predated Frumin by many years. Look up Housing First. No conditions allowed for voucher recipients, HUD program dating back to Bush. WP piece on SG was in 2019. Linked up thread as are other WP articles about buildings tipping into hubs for dealers, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the voucher holders moving into those buildings.

Cleveland Park racist white woman has entered the chat.

Enlighten a fellow about how the comment was racist. So far as I can tell, YOU attacked a commentator for racism knowing neither their gender nor their race. Weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The DC ME’s office is extremely dysfunctional, and has gone through years long stints without accreditation, are you unfamiliar with its history?

Much like the 911 call center whose incompetence has resulted in quite a few deaths.

In this case, a violent child killer is now released due to their incompetence. I do expect him to be arrested and convicted eventually, hopefully without harming the girls in the meantime.

The USAO did not object, they are not good re: dv in particular and are weak on crime overall. Had they prosecuted the felony dv case, the one another judge ordered him held for and for which a grand jury found probable cause, the boy would’ve alive.

How are the kids at Murch doing? Cannot fathom explaining something like this to a kindergarter.

Parent of a kindergartener at Murch. This has been so upsetting and difficult. We saw Deandre at morning drop offs. Never with a parent. His sisters walked him to school. I never noticed any evidence of him being abused or any of the kids looking like they were suffering from their living situation. There are many families still living in that same building and staff from the school lives there, too. My family has been displaced from buildings that have gotten unsafe - we used to live in Sedgwick Gardens from 2010 to 2018 when it got REALLY bad. Then moved to the Brandywine - same shit. Now we live in another smaller building on Conn Ave that has some voucher recipients but not many. We do not make enough money to afford a condo or house in NW DC (GS 9s) but live here because we felt it was the safest place to raise kids. Now I'm not so sure.

This is so sad. I am sorry.

Why are so many homeless families being moved to Connecticut Avenue buildings? Just curious why especially if the buildings are having so many issues?

Because the Ward 3 councilman invited them here and the mayor is more than happy to oblige. This crisis will live on long after they’re both out of office, which many longtime neighbors hope is soon.

Predated Frumin by many years. Look up Housing First. No conditions allowed for voucher recipients, HUD program dating back to Bush. WP piece on SG was in 2019. Linked up thread as are other WP articles about buildings tipping into hubs for dealers, etc.

https://mattfruminward3.com/ward3forall/

[Anonymous]

People should look up MPD crime cards before renting. Forest Hills Connect has written many pieces on issues in buildings in that stretch, but it is all rentals and rented condos and not unique to DC. It’s illegal to discriminate against vouchers and both Racine and Schwab have sued. The problems are very noticeable in big buildings, but 1 resident has caused havoc in 4600 Connecticut condo building when owners left country and wanted to maximize take in rental of unit.

There are lots of threads about vouchers on this site, DeAndre deserves the focus to stay on him here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People should look up MPD crime cards before renting. Forest Hills Connect has written many pieces on issues in buildings in that stretch, but it is all rentals and rented condos and not unique to DC. It’s illegal to discriminate against vouchers and both Racine and Schwab have sued. The problems are very noticeable in big buildings, but 1 resident has caused havoc in 4600 Connecticut condo building when owners left country and wanted to maximize take in rental of unit.

There are lots of threads about vouchers on this site, DeAndre deserves the focus to stay on him here.

This was an issue during the last Ward 3 council race. Frumin refused to support a voucher moratorium like his opponent did. Despite this PSA having the largest crime increase in the city. He owns a big part of this.

[Anonymous]

I am sickened that there was not even GPS monitor ordered to enforce the stay away order re: his sisters. He has indifferent to human life, USAO and judge not much better. Look forward to his re-arrest.