Court Documents Reveal Gruesome Details of Woman’s Beating Death in D.C. Hotel

Newly released court documents provide harrowing details of the brutal beating death of a woman discovered in a D.C. hotel room last week. According to MPD, the assailant strangled the woman before fatally beating her with the ceramic lid of the hotel room toilet tank.

William Barrett, 59, faces charges of first-degree murder in connection with the death of 36-year-old Romaine Maddox. Her lifeless body was discovered around 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, by a staff member at the Ivy City Hotel in Northeast D.C.

Following the discovery, detectives initiated an investigation and determined that Barrett and Maddox had checked into the hotel at approximately 7:20 p.m. on Thursday. Barrett claimed that he and Maddox had been involved in a romantic relationship for over a year.

According to court documents, the pair entered room 123 at the hotel and were not captured on CCTV footage until around 10:20 p.m. At this time, surveillance video allegedly shows Maddox leaving the hotel room completely unclothed. She reportedly found herself locked out of the room for a brief period before reentering until just after 1 a.m.

Police assert that at 1:15 a.m., Maddox emerged from the room wearing only underwear, while Barrett, subsequently appearing nude, exited the room apparently in search of her. Both individuals returned to the room five minutes later, and within an hour, audio recordings captured what sounded like a woman pleading “get off me” and “help.”