DC police ID elderly woman murdered inside her northwest apartment; $25K reward offered in case

WASHINGTON - The 73-year-old woman who was brutally murdered in her own home in Northwest, D.C. has been identified by police as Gloria Williams.

Neighbors FOX 5 spoke to are now in shock over what happened, and they're wondering how someone could do this.

It had been days since Gloria Williams' upstairs neighbor had seen her. "I thought maybe she was out of town or got stuck at the doctor," Michael Kyrioglou said. 

It wasn’t until he noticed mail piling up outside her front door and a food delivery box with fresh produce sitting untouched.

"I just happened to look out and saw some friends stopping by," he said. "It was a Sunday football game, they said that she was a fan of the football team, so they were concerned they hadn’t been able to reach her."

An unusual circumstance for a woman who was known for sitting on her stoop, talking to folks who passed by.

 "We were all concerned, so we collectively decided we should call the police because it was getting to be a couple of days since anybody had seen or heard from her."

According to D.C. police, officers responded to that call on Second Street Northwest Sunday just after 12 p.m.

That’s when they found the 73-year-old unconscious and unresponsive. She was pronounced dead shortly after.

An autopsy on Monday ruled her death a homicide. The report says she was stabbed several times in the chest with a knife or similar object.

"For it to happen in your building and sort of finding out step by step, that it was a natural death, then hearing it was maybe a homicide investigation going on because there was crime scene tape up and then to hear that it was something a little more nefarious is upsetting," said Kyrioglou.

Kyrioglou says the neighborhood is quiet. He works from home most days and didn’t hear any disturbances in the days and hours prior to the incident.

He says Williams was well-liked, and every neighbor FOX 5 spoke to echoed that.

All of them were shocked to hear about the nature of her death.

 "She seemed like a very nice lady, she was very welcoming to me when I moved in and seemed to sort of know a lot of folks in the neighborhood.

Authorities have not released any information regarding suspects or motives. A $25,000 reward is being offered in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099.