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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- May 18, 2018
Court
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Homicides
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Suspects
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A murder defendant pled guilty May 17 to second-degree murder for stabbing a woman on a bike trail in Southeast D.C.
Elliot Starks told District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe that he stabbed Antina Pratt. He confessed to the murder as part of a plea agreement that is expected to carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Starks, 34, allegedly stabbed Pratt, 40, in November of 2016 on the Buena Vista bike trail between Suitland Parkway and the 2600 block of Pomeroy Road, SE. He was arrested on Oct. 4, 2017, after hiding for nearly a year.
Starks and Pratt were apparently involved in an intimate relationship. He also supplied her with heroin.
After his initial interview with homicide detectives, the D.C. Medical Examiner found Starks DNA under Pratt’s fingernails.
According to prosecutors, Pratt met up with Starks after she got off a bus near Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Howard Road, SE. Apparently, Starks approached Pratt and the two walked together toward Pomeroy Road. When they reached a grassy area, Starks stabbed Pratt 29 times as she tried to fend off her attacker, the prosecution said.
Starks told the judge that he had not been acting in self-defense.
Starks is scheduled for sentencing on July 13.