By Matt Zapotosky, Published: May 20
A 21-year-old woman was fatally stabbed and the father of her child was critically wounded Thursday night in Temple Hills, said police and the woman’s mother.
The incident occurred about 11 p.m. in the 3500 block of Leslie Avenue — a cul-de-sac of split-level, single-family homes off Temple Hill Road, police said. In a news alert hours after the slaying, police said the incident was the “result of a domestic dispute.” On Friday afternoon, officers backed off that description, saying they needed to talk to the injured man, who was hospitalized.
“The news alert was the initial information we received,” said Cpl. Clinton Copeland, a Prince George’s County police spokesman. “As of right now, we can’t make that determination that this was a domestic until we’re able to at least speak with the male.”
Law enforcement sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they could be disciplined for publicly discussing an ongoing case, said the man’s wounds appeared to be self-inflicted. Cpl. Mike Rodriguez, another Prince George’s police spokesman, said the man called 911 and told authorities that he and the woman had been attacked by a stranger. Detectives were investigating that story Friday, Rodriguez said.
Gwendolyn Stoner, 40, who lives on Leslie Avenue, said the woman killed was her oldest daughter, Tiara Caple. Stoner said Caple went to work Friday night at the PetSmart near their home and was supposed to come back on the bus by about 10:15 p.m. When Caple had not returned by 11 p.m., Stoner said she began calling and texting her. The next thing she knew, Stoner said, the father of Caple’s child was knocking at her door, mumbling that Caple was “up the street, dead.” The man had a cut on his left arm, Stoner said.
“When I got up there, she was laying on the ground, bleeding,” Stoner said.
Caple and the man were taken to a hospital, where Caple died, police said. The man, 21, was hospitalized Friday in critical condition. The Washington Post is not identifying him because he had not been charged with a crime, and the newspaper generally does not name witnesses without their consent.
Stoner said that her daughter and the child’s father had an on-and-off relationship for about three years and that they had a 1-year-old son. She said that the man was abusive and that about a month ago, Caple had moved out of the man’s father’s house after a violent incident. Stoner said her daughter had since been living with her on Leslie Avenue.
Court records show Caple filed for a protective order against the man in February, saying that he had choked her and ripped out her hair. She voluntarily dropped the order days later, writing, “Peace has been worked out.”
Stoner said the two were feuding recently because Caple would not allow the man to see his child without working out an agreement in court.
Family members at the man’s house declined to comment Friday, saying they were seeking information about what happened.
Stoner said her daughter was a soft-spoken woman who loved reading and Japanese culture. She worked as a cashier at PetSmart to support her son, who marked his first birthday with a family party last month.
“She just did not deserve this,” Stoner said. “She was in a bad situation, and she tried to get out of it.”
Stoner said she would seek custody of her daughter’s child. The boy was staying with her Friday.
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