While violent crime in D.C. has dropped, incidences of domestic violence have not, according to U.S. Attorney for the District Jeanine Pirro.
She said she’s working to change that.
“There’s a lot yet to do in the District,” she told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
Pirro was asked about a recent shooting, in which 44-year-old Shawn Dewayne Williams, of Southeast D.C., was identified as a suspect in the killing of 44-year-old Melissa Wallace-Pulliam of Northwest.
Williams reportedly shot and killed Wallace-Pulliam at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Porter Street NW on Tuesday morning.
He then hopped on a bus headed north on Wisconsin Avenue that was stopped minutes later by D.C. police.
The bus was being evacuated when police officers rushed in and, according to Interim D.C. police Chief Jeffery Carroll, Williams “brandished a handgun.”
At that point, police officers fired, killing Williams.
“This year we’ve had multiple high-profile domestic violence instances here in the 2nd District. This is the second domestic homicide that we’ve had this year,” Carroll said.
D.C. court records indicate Williams had been arrested on domestic violence charges in 2023 and in 2024.
In each case, those charges were dropped by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“It preceded me,” Pirro said. “What I’m training my prosecutors to do is to recognize that there are some men who are so hell-bent on killing a woman, that they will do anything to kill her.”
In one of the cases against Williams, there was a charge indicating he had strangled the alleged victim.
There are studies that indicate nonlethal strangulation is a of women.
“Strangulation just became a felony a couple of years ago,” Pirro said. “But in terms of detention, it is still not sufficiently listed so that we can detain these defendants automatically.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
漏 2026 草莓传媒. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
