Northwest DC woman stabbed 70-year-old dad to death, police say

WASHINGTON - A Northwest D.C. woman was arrested and charged after stabbing her 70-year-old father to death, police say. 

Around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, officers were flagged down at the intersection of North Capitol and P Streets, Northwest, by a woman who told them she had just stabbed a man in the 1600 block of 6th Street, Northwest and wanted to turn herself in. 

She told officers where the home was and when police arrived, they went inside after the victim, who was still alive at the time, yelled out to them saying "I'm up here."   

According to an affidavit, when police entered the home they saw blood on the floor and walls. Officers found the victim, 70-year-old James Gaylor, lying on the floor at the door of an upstairs bedroom. 

Police said Gaylor had cloth tied around his head and his clothes were soaked with blood. DC Fire and EMS began to treat the victim for more than a dozen stab wounds to his head, neck, stomach, forearms, hands and back. When asked who had stabbed him, he said, "my daughter." 

Gaylor was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died the next day.

Police took 32-year-old Brittany Gaylor into custody the night of the stabbing. She was initially charged with assault with intent to kill (knife) but after her father passed away, her charge was upgraded to second-degree murder. 

In the affidavit, police noted that the victim had made a report against his daughter on Feb. 8, saying he had woken up to her standing in his bedroom with a knife and that she would "kill him before he kills her." He had also claimed that she "does drugs" and was "not in her right state of mind," when he filed the report.

Police are continuing to investigate.