Police in the nation’s capital say an Ethiopian man paid the ultimate price for becoming a woman’s “sugar daddy.”
Two suspects face first-degree murder charges in the gruesome stabbing death of 53-year-old Fasil Mulatu Teklemariam, whose thumb was chopped off and used to raid his bank account to help pay for a night of drugs, booze and joyriding, according to police.
More than three months after the shocking crime, Washington, D.C., authorities announced the arrests of 19-year-old Audrey Denise Miller and 22-year-old Tiffany Taylor Gray on July 12.
Each was charged with first-degree murder and armed felony murder in the death of Teklemariam, whose body was found at his apartment in Washington’s Brightwood neighborhood on April 5.
Both suspects remain jailed after being ordered held without bond, according to Fox 5 DC.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for later this month in Miller’s case, while Greene was awaiting extradition to Washington from Prince George’s County, where she was taken into custody last week.
According to police, Teklemariam was last seen alive on April 1, when he met Miller outside his apartment and accompanied her back inside. Later, he left briefly and returned with some sodas. Next, surveillance footage shows the suspects leaving Teklemariam’s apartment, and cellphone data indicate the victim’s phone also departed the area late that night, court records say.
Authorities said Teklemariam was killed as many as five days before police found his body and that his thumb had been severed just before or shortly after his death.
Investigators said the thumb was never recovered after the assailants discarded it.
An arrest warrant for Miller indicated that investigators suspected her of stabbing and bludgeoning Teklemariam to death.
The circumstances of what led up to the slaying are not clear, and police did not disclose the full nature of the man’s relationship with the suspects, how they came to know each other, or how long Teklemariam was involved with them.
Police have not indicated whether greed or robbery were motives.
Police have not charged the pair with theft even though they were seen taking several items from the man’s home.
According to the Washington Post, police said Teklemariam was involved with Gray, playing the role of a “sugar daddy” — an arrangement that often involves gifts and financial support in exchange for sex and affection.
But in Teklemariam’s case, the romance ended with his brutal murder, according to police.
He was stabbed through the heart and suffered multiple skull fractures, according to an autopsy report from the county medical examiner.
Most notably, the victim’s right thumb was missing, but he had many other injuries, including gashes on his legs and a nasty scar on the same hand as the missing thumb, possibly a defensive wound.
After the knifing, detectives said the pair casually strolled out of the man’s house with electronics and other valuables.
Surveillance footage from the victim’s apartment building shows the two suspects, along with at least two masked men, looting Teklemariam’s residence.
Gray allegedly helped Miller hack off the man’s thumb, the affidavit said.
Gray allegedly used the severed thumb on a banking app to obtain money for Uber rides, marijuana, and alcohol, according to the court documents, which also state that Gray used fake names, including the alias “Taylor Greene,” to conceal her true identity.
A GoFundMe raised nearly $6,000 to help send Teklemariam’s body to Ethiopia and cover funeral and related expenses.
Family and friends honored Teklemariam’s memory on the website, describing him as “a caring son, father, husband, brother, uncle, and friend.”
