The man accused in the death of a D.C. Department of Corrections official appeared in court Wednesday.
Carolyn Cross, the department's deputy director, was found dead in her home in the 4800 block of Kenmore Avenue in Alexandria on Sept. 7. Authorities have charged a neighbor, Dawit Seyoum, 29, with first-degree murder.
During Wednesday's preliminary hearing, Seyoum's defense requested and was granted a continuance until Dec. 1, because the defense had not received the autopsy report until Tuesday night. A defense attorney told the judge that the report "raised questions," but did not elaborate.
About 20 of Cross' family members and friends, including her daughter, attended the hearing, with most wearing purple. Many cried when the judge granted a continuance.
Wednesday's hearing was not the first time Seyoum has appeared in court in connection with the case.
The day after Cross' death, he appeared in court via closed-circuit television, dressed in a safety smock, the kind used to protect inmates who are considered to be at risk of suicide. His wrists, inner arms and forearms were bandaged, reported News4's Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey. It's not clear whether the wounds were self-inflicted.
Cross, 64, was supposed to travel to a management conference in Atlanta, but when her daughter arrived at her apartment to drive her to the airport, there was no answer at the door. Her daughter found her body inside.
A Virginia medical examiner said Cross' cause of death was strangulation, smothering and blunt head trauma.
Seyoum lived in the building next door to Cross, and their apartment buildings shared a parking lot. However, authorities don't believe the two knew each other.
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"We have no reason to believe that they knew each other, and no reason to believe that this was connected to her work with D.C. Corrections," Crystal Nosal of Alexandria Police said in September.
