Two men in Washington DC have been charged with first-degree murder following the brutal killing of a 40-year-old man inside his luxury condominium, in a case prosecutors say involved choking, beating and burning the victim.
Rico Barnes, 36, and Alphonso Walker, 39, are accused of killing Syed Hammad Hussain inside his one-bedroom loft-style condo in the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue NW near Logan Circle, an apartment valued at over US$480,000.
According to court documents and police statements, Hussain was attacked on February 11 after returning home in the early hours of the morning. Authorities said surveillance footage showed the victim entering his building shortly after 1.30am, followed closely by two men believed to be the suspects.
Investigators said Hussain had gone out briefly to pick up food and was returning to his residence when the incident occurred. Police believe the attackers followed him inside and assaulted him in the lobby before continuing the attack out of camera view.
Officers later found Hussain’s body face-down in his living room with his arms bound using neckties. A pair of 25-pound dumbbells was also discovered near the scene, according to an affidavit filed in DC Superior Court.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Hussain died from blunt force trauma and ligature strangulation. His skull was fractured in multiple places, and authorities also noted burns on his upper body, which they say occurred after his death.
Police further stated that the apartment had been ransacked, with missing items including laptops, a bicycle charger, and the victim’s mobile phone. The residence was also briefly engulfed in smoke due to a small fire, which was later extinguished by firefighters.
Investigators said key breakthroughs came through surveillance footage and mobile phone tracking, which helped trace the suspects’ movements after they left the building. One of the suspects, Walker, was also reportedly wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor that placed him at the scene.
Authorities added that Walker was already in custody on unrelated charges at the time of his arrest, while Barnes was later identified through investigative leads and video evidence.
Prosecutors said an acquaintance of the suspects told investigators that the pair later admitted to breaking into a home and assaulting a “foreign person,” claiming they had tied the victim up and repeatedly attacked him.
Barnes is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing on May 18, while Walker is due back on June 2 as proceedings continue.
