Suspect Arrested in Fatal Stabbing of AU Alumnus on Metro Train

Metropolitan Police have arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old man -- who had interned for a Connecticut lawmaker -- aboard a Metro train at the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro station Saturday afternoon.

The victim is Kevin Joseph Sutherland of northeast D.C. Sutherland was a graduate of American University.

jasper spires
Metropolitan Police Department
Jasper Spires

Sutherland was heading to meet friends for Fourth of July celebrations when Jasper Spires tried to rob him and then stabbed him, police said.

Metropolitan Police said they were alerted by Metro Transit officers that Sutherland had been stabbed on a train. They arrived at the station in the 200 block of Florida Avenue NE to find him suffering from stab wounds.

Sutherland had no signs of life at the scene, fire and emergency services personnel said.

D.C. Police issue an arrest warrant for Metro stabbing suspect. News4’s Derrick Ward reports.

Friends said they knew something was wrong when Sutherland didn't show.

“Unfortunately, that's sort of how we came to find out what happened,” Palak Gosar said.

Spires was arrested on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder while armed.
D.C. Police issue an arrest warrant in connection to the deadly stabbing at the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro. News4’s Derrick Ward reports.

Spires had been arrested July 2 for another incident, when he grabbed the neck of a man walking in the 5200 block of Wisconsin Ave., N.W. and then punched and kicked police officers who responded. However, the assault charges Spires faced for that incident could not have kept him in custody, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday.

The American University Student Government (AUSG) issued a statement Sunday, mourning Sutherland's death.

"Kevin Sutherland was truly the best of us," said AUSG President Sasha Gilthorpe in the statement. "He was incredibly kind. He was utterly and completely devoted to his friends. He used his intelligence and his talents to be a champion for what he believed in. We are all better for knowing Kevin."

The statement said Sutherland was an American University alumnus and two-time student government secretary.

According to his LinkedIn website, Sutherland served as an intern for Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) in 2008 and 2010. Himes tweeted out his sympathies to the family.

Sutherland was employed at New Blue Interactive at the time of his death.

"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the loss of our dear employee and friend Kevin Sutherland," said a statement from New Blue Interactive on their Facebook page. "We are heartbroken to hear of his passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his entire family during this difficult time."

Friends told News4 Sutherland dreamed of a career as a progressive politician.

“He was everything, and it's the small details about him that you don't realize you miss until now that he is actually gone,” roommate Tya Scott said. “He was just so quirky, so loving.”

In the July 2 incident, Spires approached a man on Wisconsin Ave., waving an empty wine bottle. Spires asked the victim, "What's in your pockets?" according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The victim tried to walk away, but Spires put his hands around his neck and searched the victim's pockets. When police responded, Spires punched and hit them, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Spires was charged with two counts of assault, but could not be charged with robbery, since nothing was taken from the victim.

The assault charges "could not have resulted in the detention of this defendant, who had a minimal criminal history," said Bill Miller, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

Now Spires is being held without bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

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