Metropolitan Police said they arrested two men connected to the February killing of a Logan Circle resident who was found tied up and beaten to death inside his apartment that had been set on fire.
Authorities said they took Rico Rashaad Barnes, 36, and Alphonso Walker, 39, into custody on murder charges after the two allegedly attacked Syed Hammad Hussain at random as the victim walked home on Feb. 11.
Charging documents said the two suspects followed Hussain, 40, to his condo building in Northwest D.C.’s 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue at about 1:40 a.m.
Hussain swiped into the building, the filing said, then the two suspects began banging on the door as if asking to be let in.
Hussain opened the door for them, according to the documents, which is when the assailants immediately started an argument with the victim that led to the fatal attack.
“Unfortunately, we see things like that all the time where there may be a fellow neighbor in an apartment building or things like that and folks will let them in, and in this case they just took advantage of him completely,” interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said when announcing the arrests Wednesday. “This is a heinous crime as far as injuries that were inflicted upon him. It’s just terrible.”
The documents said Hussain exited the building to get away from the men, but they followed him outside.
One of the suspects knocked Hussain to the ground, and the pair continued to beat him as he lay there.
Investigators said the suspects later pulled Hussain back up to his feet and dragged him into the building, using his key fob to get inside.
Afterward, they tied up the victim and beat him over the head while they ransacked his apartment, the filing said. A small fire was started as the two left the scene, and Hussain had burns to his back and arms.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Hussain died from blunt force injuries to the head.
Surveillance video showed the suspects leaving with trash bags full of loot from Hussain’s apartment.
A witness who met the suspects after the attack said the men brought over two laptops, jewelry, clothing, stacks of foreign currency, a passport and two phones. The two men smashed the phones at the witness’s residence.
Mr. Barnes is scheduled to return to court in May.
Mr. Walker was already in custody after being arrested last month in a shoplifting incident that turned into an assault on a police officer. His next court hearing on murder charges is scheduled for June.
