Jason Miyares demands DC leaders acknowledge crime problem: Stop the criminal-first mindset
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares slams Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and state officials after Christy Bautista was brutally murdered allegedly by a repeat offender in the nation’s capital.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares demanded action from Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city council after a woman visiting the district was stabbed to death in her hotel.
31-year-old Virginia native Christy Bautista was stabbed to death in her D.C. hotel room while visiting for a concert last week. Miyares responded to her death, among other state deaths in D.C., saying, "lenient policies and perspectives" are responsible.
Miyares joined John Roberts Thursday on "America Reports" and said, "D.C.’s crime problem is becoming Virginia’s crime problem."
According to the D.C. Medical Examiner's Office, suspect George Snydor Jr. smoked a cigarette in Bautista’s room after allegedly stabbing her around 30 times. Miyares said she was allegedly murdered within an hour of checking into her hotel room.
Christy Bautista, 31, was stabbed to death inside an Ivy City Hotel room in Washington, DC. (WTTG)
Miyares said a judge previously released the suspect after an armed robbery arrest. Police 1 reported that the average D.C. homicide suspect had been arrested 11 times before committing a homicide, according to the Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee.
Miyares said in the letter that Bautista’s "murder is a tragedy that should have never happened."
He said, "I urge the city’s leadership to address the scourge of violent crime that is growing more intolerable by the day."
Graduation photo of a woman who was stabbed to death in Washington, DC. (WTTG)
Mayor Bowser held a press conference on March 6 to address public safety concerns and announced an expanded police presence in the D.C. Adams Morgan area.
Mayor Bowser told Fox 5 D.C. Tuesday, "Any crime in the district is disturbing."
"We need the community’s support," she said. "We need to know where the guns are; we need to know when they have information about a shooting, how to get dangerous people off the streets."
Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Bowser and the D.C. city council for comment on Miyares' demands and is awaiting a response.
Miyares said, "Violent crime has gone up in Washington D.C. the last couple of years, and it goes back to this criminal first, victim last mindset." He expressed that the first rule of government is being able to protect one’s citizens.
"So many of our elected leaders need to realize there is a problem and to stop doing these policies," he said. "The real world doesn’t measure by your intentions; they measure by your results."
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Bautista has a GoFundMe page to help cover her funeral expenses.
The 43-year-old suspect is charged with first-degree murder and has a criminal history dating back to the early 2000s. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 8.
Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
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