The northwest edge of the Parker Gray neighborhood became the scene of a third murder this year on Thursday evening, when a resident of the Carpenter’s Shelter was violently attacked in the parking lot between the homeless shelter and a McDonald’s on the other side of First Street. Police officials acknowledged that a weapon was used in the commission of the crime, although they declined to be specific about what kind of a weapon was involved. The victim was identified Friday afternoon as Ricardo Lloyd Cherry, a 29-year-old Alexandria man who had been staying at the Carpenter’s Shelter for about a month.
"We don’t know much of anything about his background at this point," said Ashley Hilderbrandt, a public-information officer with the Alexandria Police Department. "Our investigators are still looking into all of that."
Police officials say they have identified a potential suspect, although they refused to release a description of the man. Shortly after 8:30 p.m. on July 19, Cherry stumbled into the lobby of the Carpenter’s Shelter seeking assistance for an injury to his upper body. Lt. Jamie Bartlett, a spokesman for the Alexandria Police Department, said that investigators are trying to find witnesses to the altercation outside the Carpenter’s Shelter.
"We are surmising that they had some kind of argument," said Bartlett. "We believe it was a one-on-one fight, although that’s difficult to say without eyewitnesses."
THE PARKER GRAY neighborhood was the scene of a double murder in the early morning hours of April 19. Shortly after 2 a.m. on that date, the Police Department received an emergency call for service from the public-housing complex near the Braddock Road Metro station. One victim was already dead when police arrived, and the other died on the way to the hospital. A 19-year-old resident in a public-housing unit of Chatham Square was arrested several days later, and his trial has now been scheduled for October.
"Over the past few years, we’ve been putting increased resources into this area," said Bartlett, adding that the department has recently increased patrolling and lighting in the neighborhood. "And we’ve made progress."
After the April double murder, Deputy Police Chief Earl Cook came to a City Council meeting and said that the department would soon fill a community officer position that had been vacant since February 2006. Cook now says that filling the position is not a priority because the neighborhood has increased patrolling under the department’s new Strategic Response System. According to Cook, the new staffing system puts more officers on the streets during peak hours in Parker Gray, reducing the need to fill the community officer position that has now been vacant for 16 months.
"Hopefully, we are going to make some decisions about that soon," said Cook. "We are in the process of evaluating that position."
Officials at the Carpenter’s Shelter confirmed that Cherry had been staying at the North Henry Street homeless shelter for about a month, although privacy laws prevent them from sharing anything about his history or background.
"This is a tragedy because we’ve lost one of our own," said Fran Becker, executive director of the Carpenter’s Shelter. "Right now, we are focused on the health and safety of all of our residents."