Body Found in Southeast

Police found the body of a woman in an apartment in the 4200 block of Fourth Street SE Thursday. 

Authorities believe the woman had been in the home for three or four days, as her body was significantly decayed, according to D.C. police spokesman Officer Eric Frost.

Christopher Martin, 24, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman believed to be his mother. The woman hasn't been positively identified because of the decomposition.

Sources told News4's Darcy Spencer that a man believed to be Martin's brother was seen jumping out of a window of the apartment moments before her body was found. He is mentally disabled and lived with his mother, according to the sources.

According to court documents, Martin's brother told neighbors his mother was dead and had been dead for a while and that his brother killed him. He may also have been attacked by Martin, authorities said. 

Officers were originally called to the home around 3:45 p.m., after receiving reports of a suspicious situation.

After taking the woman's body away, technicians with the D.C. Medical Examiner's Office searched the apartment grounds. They were looking for any potential evidence, including a weapon.

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An autopsy will be performed to determine how the woman died. She appears to have been stabbed multiple times, according to court documents, but the extent of decomposition makes it difficult to determine.

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