Suspect in Correction Official's Death Ruled Competent to Stand Trial

A judge ruled the man accused in the death of a D.C. Department of Corrections official competent to stand trial.

Dawit Seyoum is accused of murdering Carolyn Cross, the deputy director of D.C.’s Department of Corrections, Sept. 7.

Detectives testified in court in December that Seyoum was waiting in the laundry room of her Alexandria apartment building when he heard her pass by.

They say he confronted Cross in her apartment and hit her several times with a wrench. Then, they say, he covered her head with a plastic bag and secured it with duct tape.

Police told the court that on the afternoon of Sept. 7, Seyoum called 911. Officers found him inside his apartment, bloody. They say he tried to take his own life. At the hospital, Seyoum opened up about it, police said.

Attorneys for Seyoum said their client was hearing voices at the time of the Cross's murder.

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