Judge Continues Preliminary Hearing To August

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 30, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

On July 25, a preliminary hearing was continued to Aug. 14 due to counsel not finishing arguments about a defendant’s involvement in a murder. 

Travis Russell is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing of 44-year-old Michael Hooker on the 2700 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE on May 26. Russell, 35, has not been indicted.

During the hearing, counsel questioned one of the detectives on Russell’s case about the details of the investigation. 

According to the detective, a verbal dispute occurred between Hooker and Russell on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Russell then went to a men’s shelter where he resided and changed his clothes. In that time, Hooker and a few other individuals walked to the bus stop in front of the Player’s Lounge Bar.

Surveillance video shows a man, who police believe is Russell, walking in the direction of the bus stop with what appears to be a glass bottle in his hand. The man walks out of view of the camera, and walks back in view moments later, without the bottle. 

The man is seen walking back into the men’s shelter, where the detective said drops of blood could be seen on the floor. Surveillance video shows the man wrapping his hand with a bandage. 

Police recovered shattered pieces of a Corona beer bottle at the crime scene. The detective said shards of glass from the bottle had blood on them. However,  DNA testing came back inconclusive, court documents state. 

According to an autopsy report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the  District of Columbia, the cause of death was a stab wound to the neck. 

The case is still under investigation.