In the quiet neighborhood of Washington Highlands, 32-year-old Dilcia Rodriguez was known by friends and colleagues as a beacon of positivity, the kind of person who would offer a hug to brighten someone's day. She dedicated her professional life to helping others as a data entry specialist at the 801 East Men's Shelter, where she was a confidante and a source of comfort for both the residents and her coworkers.
However, beneath her cheerful exterior, she was privately enduring a struggle that she kept hidden from most.
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, October 16, 2019, the domestic turmoil Rodriguez faced came to a tragic end. Inside her apartment in the 700 block of Chesapeake Street SE, she was fatally shot. A neighbor later recalled hearing muffled gunshot-like sounds around 4:45 a.m. but dismissed them at the time. It wasn't until a concerned party requested a welfare check that police discovered her body shortly after 8:00 a.m. Rodriguez, a mother of four, was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the death of the female victim quickly pointed to a domestic dispute. Authorities identified her husband of seven years, 37-year-old Calvin Aughtry, as the suspect. After the shooting, Aughtry reportedly took the children to school before fleeing the city. Later that same day, he was found deceased in a vehicle in neighboring Prince George's County, Maryland. His death was the result of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, leading police to conclude that the incident was a murder-suicide. The couple had been married since 2012 and had lived together in the Chesapeake Street apartment.
