Woman Found Stabbed to Death in Northwest DC Condo Building

A woman was found stabbed to death in a condo building in Upper Northwest D.C. early Friday after the attacker called 911 and pulled a fire alarm, police said. 

Officers were called to the 4000 block of Tunlaw Road NW just after 6 a.m. after a caller reported a bomb, D.C. police said. 

Inside a home on the fifth floor, officers found a woman who had been stabbed multiple times. The woman was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

On Wednesday, police identified the woman as 61-year-old Cheryl Schafer, of Falls Church, Virginia.

Charles Elvis Sykes, 59, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed. 

The condo's board of directors said in a letter to residents that the suspect lived in the building and the victim was his girlfriend, who was visiting. The letter said Sykes called police and pulled a fire alarm.

Police declined to characterize the relationship between Sykes and the victim.

A building-wide fire alarm blared early Friday and residents were sent onto the street, some in their pajamas and bathrobes.

"At about 6 a.m. the building fire alarm went off and it meant that everyone had to go outside. We had no idea why," resident Deane Edelman said.

Resident Rollin Harkness said he awoke before the fire alarm to an unusual sound. 

"My wife just checked the front door, and we thought we heard somebody yell or something like that," he said. 

No suspicious package was found in the building. Residents were allowed back inside after waiting on the street for hours.

Police initially said a suspicious package was reported as they investigated the homicide in the building.

Residents said they were shocked by the crime.

"You don't expect it out here," resident Eleanor Adkins said.

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