In a quiet apartment in Southeast Washington, D.C., a deeply disturbing scene was discovered on January 30, 2014. A caretaker, making a routine visit to the residence in the 1600 block of 17th Street, found the bodies of 21-year-old Ronnetta Hurley-Brown and Ervin Phillip Ingraham, also 21. Both had been shot. In the midst of this tragedy, a small ray of hope was present; the couple's two young children, aged one and two, were found unharmed in the apartment.
The initial investigation by
the Metropolitan Police Department suggested that this was not a random act of violence, but rather a targeted attack. When officers entered the apartment, they noted the strong smell of bleach and the sound of running water from the sinks, indicating an attempt had been made to clean the crime scene and destroy evidence.
The investigation into the double homicide led authorities to 22-year-old Tyrron Lamont Sweeney. A crucial piece of evidence linking Sweeney to the crime was a pair of latex gloves discovered inside Ingraham's recovered car; one of the gloves contained Sweeney's DNA. Further investigation revealed that a witness had seen a man matching Sweeney's description leaving the victims' apartment on the night of the murders. Based on this and other circumstantial evidence, Tyrron Lamont Sweeney was arrested and charged with the murders of Ronnetta Hurley-Brown and Ervin Phillip Ingraham.
