A 44-year-old Florida man was arrested Saturday for the brutal beating and killing of his girlfriend.
Delmon Washington was charged with the murder of 46-year-old Latisha Tiare Alce and tampering with evidence, according to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
According to investigators, officers in Key West stopped a Hyundai that was being driven with a blown tire at approximately 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Washington was driving the car alone and police say he had a significant amount of blood on his clothes and body, but no visible injuries.
Key West Police say he was behaving erratically and arrested Washington at that time for DUI, resisting arrest, and other charges.
Police found Alce’s purse in the car and contacted the owner of the Hyundai, a family member of Alce’s.
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Police attempted to contact Alce and were not successful. The family was suspicious that Alce was not with Washington and went to the couple’s home on Stock Island, and discovered a grisly scene.
Alce was covered in blood and unresponsive at the home and called 911. Responding Deputies tried to revive Alce, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alce appeared to have suffered blunt force trauma to her face and her body. Police say there was a lot of blood at the scene as well as a broken table near her body.
“These cases are never easy, but this one was resolved very quickly due to the outstanding partnerships between the Sheriff’s Office, Key West Police Department, the State Attorney’s Office and the Medical Examiner’s Office,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay. “The suspect in this case would not have been identified and taken off the street in such a short amount of time had it not been for the great work among my staff and those partners.”
Detectives located security camera footage from a nearby business that showed Washington and Alce arriving at the residence earlier Friday night. It also showed Washington throwing away a large object and some clothing before leaving the scene in the Hyundai. There were no other vehicles or people seen entering or leaving the residence.
Washington was already in jail Saturday on the initial charges filed by Key West Police when he was additionally charged with murder by the Sheriff’s Office.
Washington has a lengthy criminal history in Monroe County that includes aggravated battery, battering on law enforcement, kidnapping, armed burglary, larceny, drug offenses and resisting arrest among numerous other charges dating to 1999.
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