Hammer Attack Victim Speaks Out

The 19-year-old suspect, Michael Davis, was taken into custody Thursday night in connection with several attacks in the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest D.C.

A judge ordered a man charged in connection with two assaults in the Petworth area to remain behind bars with no bail. The order comes as a fifth victim of an alleged serial assaulter has come forward to police.

The 19-year-old suspect, Michael Davis, was taken into custody Thursday night in connection with several attacks in the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest D.C., including one that ended with the death of a tourist.

Davis, of the 900 block of Emerson Street NW, was arrested after another attack in the area. He is charged with two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. He appeared Saturday in D.C. Superior Court, where he was ordered held without bond pending a preliminary hearing on May 11, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.

The new victim, who has not been identified, told police Friday that he was assaulted hours before police arrested Davis Thursday evening. A commenter on the Prince of Petworth website claimed that his neighbor was attacked at around 3:30 p.m. Thursday while walking his dog at the intersection of 2nd and Ingraham Streets Northwest.  He identified Davis as his attacker from a nine-picture photo spread, police said.

At about 9 p.m. Thursday, undercover officers heard a woman call for help in the 800 block of Gallatin Street. When they arrived, they saw a 19-year-old woman on the ground with a head injury, said D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.

They then noticed a person with a dark-colored bag near the scene. As they made eye contact, the man ran away, Lanier said. The pursuit lasted several blocks, and during that time the man dropped the bag.

The victim has been hospitalized with a serious head injury.

"I had just crossed over the light..." she told Collins by phone Friday. She said she saw a shadow in front of her and was scared, turning around to see a man behind her.

"I didn't think nothing of him," she said. "I just turned around, I would say, like a second, and he just struck me with something. All I said was please don't hurt me."

Davis was eventually taken into custody on Illinois Avenue, and police said they found a claw hammer inside the bag that they believe was used in the assault. Sources told News4 that they believe that could be the weapon used in all four attacks in the area.

Davis is the younger brother of NFL players Vernon and Vontae Davis, according to law enforcement sources and neighbors.

Vernon Davis is a tight end for the San Francisco 49ers. Vontae Davis is a cornerback for the Miami Dolphins. Both attended Dunbar High School.

Vernon Davis posted the following message on his Twitter feed over night::

Davis has been charged with one count of aggravated assault in Thursday night's attack and is being questioned in the other three.

"We don't have the links to say that this, in fact, is the same person," Lanier said Friday. "I can tell you I feel very much more comfortable now that this person is in custody."

The first three incidents all happened within 26 hours of each other, in a 10-block radius in Petworth.

Gary Dederichs, 66, was found in an alley in the 800 block of Emerson Street NW at 6 p.m. Tuesday, with his head resting on a fanny pack. He apparently died of severe head trauma.

Nine hours later, around 3 a.m. Wednesday, a 53-year-old black male was found injured in the roadway of Georgia Avenue NW -- just two blocks away from the scene of the murder.

Initially, police thought this man had been struck by a car, but a medical exam showed that his only injury was blunt force trauma to the head. He remains hospitalized in critical condition.

The third attack happened at 8:40 p.m. Wednesday. A 37-year-old black female was struck in the head by a blunt object at Longfellow and 9th streets NW. That victim is also in the hospital, in serious condition with head trauma.

"It’s been very difficult to get information from the victims due to the nature of their injuries," Lanier said Thursday.

Dederichs, the man who was killed, was a nurse from Denver. He had been visiting D.C. for about two weeks, and was renting a basement apartment in a house on Illinois Avenue NW, reported NBC4's Pat Collins.

The entrance to that apartment is in the alley where his body was found.

Police were talking to neighborhood residents Thursday, making sure everyone was aware of the situation, and asking them to report anything they may have seen.

"It's terrible, and I'm sorry it happened," a resident said Wednesday. "And I'm sorry it happened in my neighborhood, because we have never had this happen."

Anyone with more information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099 or submit a tip anonymously by texting 50411.


Image of suspect Michael Davis courtesy of Prince of Petworth.

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