Extremely Rare Kind of Murder Rattles Washington, DC

Police don't believe Margery Magill knew the suspect, or that robbery was a motive
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 29, 2019 6:57 AM CDT
Police: She Was Walking a Dog, Was Murdered by Stranger
The attack happened in the Parkview neighborhood.   (Getty Images)

A Tuesday night murder in Washington, DC, is being described by the city's police chief as extremely rare: A 27-year-old woman was stabbed to death while dog walking, and police say it doesn't appear that the suspect knew Margery Magill or that the attack was an attempted robbery or sexual assault. An area resident tells NBC Washington he heard "a scream and then an 'Oh no!' and then another scream." He found Magill bleeding on the sidewalk in front of his house just before 9pm. Aided by area surveillance footage, police arrested 24-year-old Eliyas Aregahegne later that night; he's been charged with first-degree murder.

"Margery was a young professional who just received her master's degree in international relations, and who by all accounts was beloved by her family and friends," says DC Police Chief Peter Newsham, adding that she was working as a dog walker when she was killed. Magill's family describes her as a voracious traveler who had been to countries as varied as Nicaragua and Tanzania, reports the Washington Post. A 2015 graduate of the University of California at Davis, Magill got her master's this year from the University of Westminster in London and had been working as a project coordinator at the Washington Center, which connects grad students with job and internship opportunities around the globe. She was dog-walking on the side. (Magill's murder recalls that of Wendy Martinez.)

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