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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- July 9, 2015
Homicides
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Suspects
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A suspect has been arrested and charged in the death of a man found burning in a trash can last month.
Zacchaeus Blanding, 19, from Northeast, was arrested Wednesday for the murder of Heineken McNeil, also 19.
McNeil’s body was found burned beyond recognition in a trashcan on the early morning of June 23 behind a vacant home in the 1200 block of Holbrook Terrace NE. An autopsy revealed the victim’s identity and that the victim died as a result of being shot, before he was set ablaze in the trash can.
Blanding has been charged with second degree murder while armed in McNeil’s death.
According to NBC Washington, the arrest of Blanding has led to startling revelations that the suspect and victims were not rivals, as was originally thought by investigators.
“…with this arrest today, we have now learned that this, in fact, was not a rivalry or a feud between rival neighborhoods in Northeast, but in fact, the suspect and the victim were friends,” Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said at a press conference Wednesday, according to NBC.