Woman stabbed to death in DC hotel room by career criminal

Her killer, George Sydnor Jr, was arrested at the scene and promptly charged with first-degree murder.

According to NBC4, Bautista checked into Room 116 at the Ivy City Hotel on New York Avenue NE around 5:55 pm. Footage from the hotel's security cameras spotted Sydnor riding a red bicycle into the parking lot around 6:45 pm before walking up to Bautista's room and pressing his ear against the door.

He then proceeded to open the door and step in. Security footage captured what sounded like a struggle between him and Bautista, in which she can be heard screaming.

One witness corroborated the timeline, telling police that they saw a woman open the door of Room 116 and yell "Help!" before being dragged back inside by a man.

Law enforcement was called, and officers arrived at the scene ten minutes later. When they knocked on the hotel room door, a man told them from inside that everything was fine. After his bloodied hand was spotted through the curtains, officers opened the door via the hotel's master key.

They found Bautista laying on the floor with over thirty stab wounds, mostly to her back; Sydnor was lighting a cigarette. Officers recovered a long kitchen knife with a broken blade, and a number of bloody pieces of clothing Syndor had been wearing.

Sydnor was taken into custody and held without bond. He is scheduled to return to court on May 8.

As NBC4 reports, he had a lengthy criminal record, and was wanted on two arrest warrants related to attempted robbery and theft charges at the time of the attack. He had been arrested in October for armed robbery, and though the original judge denied him bond on the grounds that the career criminal posed a risk to society, a second judge released him two weeks later.