Opinion ID: 1927659
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: (A) The Shirley Person Homicide

Text: In the early morning hours of September 18, 1982, a gunman, later identified as appellant, abducted Shirley Person and her twelve-year-old daughter, Tammy Person, from the parking lot behind an apartment building located at 1330 7th Street, N.W., in which the Persons lived. Ms. Person and Tammy were returning home when the gunman approached Ms. Person's car in the parking lot. The gunman announced a stick up and, after jumping into the car, struck Shirley Person on the head with a gun. This caused the gun to click and a bullet fell to the car's back floor, hitting Tammy, who was crouched in the back seat. The gunman drove Ms. Person and Tammy to 22nd Street and T Place, S.E. Along the way, he demanded that Ms. Person give him the rings she was wearing. At some point, the gunman also robbed Ms. Person of approximately $56. When they arrived at 22nd Street and T Place, S.E., the gunman dragged Ms. Person out of the car and forced her to lie on the ground. He then pulled Tammy out of the car and locked her in the trunk. A struggle ensued between Ms. Person and the gunman. In the course of the struggle, the gunman took out a buck knife and repeatedly stabbed Shirley Person, ultimately cutting her throat. The gunman then removed almost all of Ms. Person's clothes and sodomized her. Leaving Ms. Person lying on the ground, the gunman gathered up her clothes and returned to the car. The gunman then drove back to Ms. Person's apartment building where, using her key, he entered her apartment and stole certain stereo equipment and two television sets. The gunman was observed by a security guard at approximately 2:00 a.m. taking stereo equipment from the apartment building to Person's car. [2] Thereafter, the gunman disposed of the stolen items from the Persons' apartment, and drove the car to the 1300 block of 6th Street, N.W., where he abandoned it. Tammy was still locked in the trunk. At approximately 5:00 a.m., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers, responding to a report that a woman was screaming inside the trunk of a parked car, found Tammy and freed her. Tammy, who was hysterical, told the police, He's got my mommy, and proceeded to explain how she and her mother had been abducted. The officers returned with Tammy to the Persons' apartment, where Tammy noticed, and told them, that the stereo equipment and televisions were missing. She also gave the police a picture of her mother. Two hours later, the police learned that a woman's body had been found in a wooded area across from 22nd Street and T Place, S.E., near Good Hope Road. The body, later identified as that of Shirley Person, was found lying face down with multiple stab wounds in the neck, chest, back and stomach and with evidence of blows to the head. Ms. Person was pronounced dead at the scene.