Authorities have charged two additional suspects with murder in the presumed killing of a 25-year-old woman who disappeared from the District in 2023 and remains missing, bringing to three the number now facing charges.
Court documents for the first time allege the victim, Chyna Crawford, was fatally shot.
Police had initially suspected that Crawford was killed in a kidnapping or robbery. The indictment filed in the latest arrest offers new details behind that theory and alleges the victim was targeted by members of a vast conspiracy, involving a gang that authorities say waged a nearly three-year turf war with rivals in Northeast and Southeast Washington.
The 126-count indictment filed in D.C. Superior Court last week does not describe whether Crawford knew any of the people charged.
The indictment identifies five people, including Lashawn Washington of Southeast Washington, who is in her 30s and who was charged in 2024 with first-degree felony murder and two other counts in Crawford’s presumed death. The new indictment adds dozens of new charges to her case.
Newly indicted in the murder case are Bjarni Cooper, 31, of Northeast Washington, and Tyjuan McNeal, 29, whose address was not provided.
Cooper and McNeal are charged with first-degree felony murder, conspiracy, armed carjacking and armed robbery in connection with Crawford’s disappearance. They also face additional charges as part of the conspiracy, according to the indictment.
Washington has pleaded not guilty. Cooper’s attorney, Matthew Covert, declined to comment. McNeal is being held in a federal penitentiary in Florida, serving seven years for firearms trafficking in the District, and has not been brought to D.C. for an initial court appearance on the murder and other charges related to the conspiracy. No attorney is listed in court documents for his pending charges.
Two other defendants named in the alleged conspiracy are not charged in Crawford’s case but face dozens of charges related to the alleged conspiracy. In addition, authorities said two juveniles are involved, but the indictment does not say whether they face charges.
Crawford was one of about 2,400 people who went missing in D.C. in 2023. Most cases are quickly resolved. But detectives investigating Crawford quickly elevated her case to the major case unit, citing a series of disturbing clues. The case was given to the police department’s most senior homicide detectives.
The latest indictment alleges that three people confronted Crawford at her apartment on Oct. 24, 2023, and kidnapped her. The indictment alleges that she was put in the front passenger seat of her black Mercedes Benz at a parking lot in Southeast Washington and driven away by Washington, with Cooper in another passenger seat. The indictment alleges that only Washington and Cooper returned to the lot in the Mercedes, which later was sold.
The indictment says Washington, a juvenile and another person not yet identified by authorities returned to Crawford’s apartment in Southwest Washington and burglarized it. Court documents say they stole her keys, phone, laptop and designer clothing and jewelry, including a Rolex watch, Prada shoes, a Mackage coat, a Moose Knuckles jacket, a Moncler coat, a Celine hoodie and a diamond tennis bracelet.
Authorities said the group returned to a residence in Northeast Washington and divided up the proceeds. They later had the Mercedes cleaned and sold, the indictment says.
After Washington was arrested in March 2024, Crawford’s brother, Derrick Crawford, told The Washington Post he did not know the female suspect. But later he said Washington had posted on social media that “I miss my friend” and “I hope she comes home soon.”
Efforts to reach Crawford’s relatives on Monday were not successful.
The indictments describe crimes committed throughout the District, including carjackings and intimidating witnesses who were scheduled to testify in court.
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