WASHINGTON -- Washington D.C. police have arrested a man they say killed a University of Cincinnati graduate last week in a D.C. apartment.
Police said 28-year-old El Hadji Alpha Madiou Toure tied up and fatally stabbed 34-year-old Corrina Mehiel , according to the Washington Post. Toure, who has no fixed address, was charged with first-degree murder while armed and theft.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and acting D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said Toure was wanted in Tennessee on a probation violation.
Mehiel graduated with a master's degree in fine art from UC in 2013, according to a university spokesperson. She also was an instructor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 2014-16, according to her website.
Newsham said Mehiel and Toure did not know each other and there was no evidence that Mehiel had been sexually assaulted, the Post reported. The chief said authorities received “numerous tips” but one was “instrumental” in leading to an arrest.
Newsham said he could not speak to the motive. Mehiel's Toyota Prius was found over the weekend, but police would not give details as to where it was found.
Mehiel had been in D.C. for the past several months working with artist Mel Chin on a Corcoran exhibit called “The Fundred Reserve,” according to the Post. It consists of hand-drawn $100 bills that visitors create and are used to highlight the dangers of lead poisoning and “remind us that every child’s future has value.”
Police said Mehiel was last seen March 19 at the Corcoran, although Chin said she had dinner with friends at his apartment in Foggy Bottom that evening, the Post reports.
Chin told the Post he did not recognize Toure.
“I have been looking at gatherings of people at the Reserve openings and pushing my thoughts to anyone who might resemble the person in the photo,” he said, adding, “We are still grieving and remain deeply unsettled.”
