In a tragic turn of events on June 3, 2014, 25-year-old Catina Cortes was found deceased in a second-floor hotel room at a Ramada Inn in College Park, Maryland. Police had been called to the location in the 9100 block of Baltimore Avenue for a welfare check at approximately 1:15 p.m. Upon arrival, they discovered Ms. Cortes, a female from Far Rockaway, New York, with a fatal gunshot wound and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into her death quickly transitioned into
a homicide case. Investigators determined that Cortes had arranged to meet a man at the hotel for a paid sexual encounter. This meeting had been arranged online. The man she was scheduled to meet was identified as 23-year-old Vaughn Darvell Bellamy of Northeast Washington, D.C. He became the primary suspect in her murder. The investigation also identified a second individual, 24-year-old Barry Foxx of Temple Hills, Maryland, who was believed to have assisted Bellamy.
Within days, both men were apprehended. Vaughn Darvell Bellamy was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and a firearms offense. Barry Foxx was charged with being an accessory after the fact, with allegations that he aided Bellamy after the crime was committed. It is believed that Foxx accompanied Bellamy to the hotel and helped him leave the scene. A handgun, suspected to be the weapon used in the shooting, was recovered from Foxx's residence at the time of his arrest.
