Devastation has struck the family of a newly-engaged woman, when she was found brutally stabbed multiple times after going on a jog near her apartment in a residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C.
On September 18, Wendy Martinez, 35, was covered in blood when she stumbled into a local Chinese takeout restaurant looking for help, before collapsing shortly afterwards.
While customers tried to save Martinez's life, she was later pronounced dead at the Medstar Washington Hospital Center.
Washington D.C. Chief of Police Peter Newsham said in a press conference that he believes the vicious attack was "random" and "unprovoked."
"This is one of those types of unsettling incidents that sometimes happens in large cities, but it seems like a singular incident," he explained.
Authorities have charged Anthony Marquell Crawford, 23, with first-degree murder after he was allegedly seen fleeing the scene in a mustard-colored sweatshirt by a surveillance video.
The murder weapon, a knife, was found close to the scene.
Records say Crawford has a history with paranoia and drug abuse, but Newsham said there is no obvious motive for the homicide.
"The best thing we can do right now is identify the suspect," Newsham continued. "We will get to the bottom of this."
It was only a week before Martinez's murder when she got engaged to her fiancé, Daniel Hincapie, with the pair planning to wed in only two months time.
Her mother Cora Martinez said she will be buried in the wedding dress she had picked out for her big day.
"I never imagined this was going to happen, and my heart is broken because my daughter was supposed to be married in two months," she told WRC-TV .
"Over the weekend we went to look for her wedding dress, so when I saw my daughter dressing up, or trying out her dress, I never imagined that she was buying the dress for her burial."
Hincapie said that although Martinez is no longer with them, he hopes that he will be able carry on her legacy.
"One of the last things that she did this year was to train me for my first full marathon early in the summer," Hincapie said.
"So I would like to keep that. I would like to keep running for her and just helping ... her community, her projects and all the dreams that she had. Hopefully I will be able to continue that, continue her legacy."
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Martinez's family and friends during this tragic time.
