Man dies after stabbing at D.C. jail, police investigate homicide

By Rosa Montclair

WASHINGTON — A 30-year-old man held at the D.C. jail died Sunday after he was stabbed during a fight with another detainee, and police are investigating the death as a homicide, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Police identified the man as Malik Williams, of Southeast Washington. First District officers responded at about 11:36 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, to the D.C. Central Detention Facility in the 1900 block of D Street SE for a report of a stabbing. When officers and D.C. Fire and EMS reached the jail’s infirmary, they found him unconscious and not breathing with apparent stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to MPD.

No arrest had been announced as of early Tuesday. As of Monday afternoon, authorities had not named a suspect, the Post reported.

What the Department of Corrections said

A Department of Corrections spokesperson told WTOP that two people got into a fight at the Central Detention Facility at about 11 a.m. and that one of them used a “makeshift weapon.” The department said it “maintains a zero-tolerance policy for violence.” MPD homicide detectives and the Department of Corrections’ Office of Investigative Services are investigating.

The department did not say what the weapon was made of, according to The Washington Post, which reported that the killing was at least the third stabbing at the jail this month, based on police and arrest records.

Earlier stabbings this month

The Post reported that on Oct. 6 a detainee was stabbed eight times with a handmade metal object in a classroom, according to a police report, and that on Oct. 12 another detainee was stabbed in a shower area of a different housing unit. Three people were charged in the Oct. 12 attack, the Post reported. Charges are accusations, and those charged are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

A jail already under scrutiny

The death comes a week after the Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into conditions at D.C. Department of Corrections facilities. The department said it would examine whether the city violates detainees’ constitutional rights through excessive force, inadequate medical care, unsanitary conditions and inadequate food.

The Office of the D.C. Auditor warned in a May 2025 report that conditions at the jail endangered detainees and staff and called the need for a new facility “urgent.” The report found the jail’s in-custody death rate was more than three times the national average during its review period. Auditor Kathleen Patterson told the Post on Monday that questions remain about the weapon, staffing at the time and where in the facility the assault took place.

How to reach police

MPD asks anyone with information to call (202) 727-9099 or text 50411. The department offers a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in a homicide. The case number is CCN 26153172.

The Inquisitor is seeking comment from the Department of Corrections, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, the Office of the D.C. Auditor, the D.C. Corrections Information Council and the Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety.