Local
Woman arrested in gay principal’s murder
In what was expected to be the first of at least two arrests, Montgomery County Police on Monday arrested a D.C. woman who reportedly used the credit card of slain D.C. middle school principal Brian Betts.
Betts, who was gay, was found shot to death in a bedroom in his Silver Spring, Md., house April 15.
Montgomery County Police spokesperson Sgt. C. Thomas Jordan said 46-year-old Artura Otey Williams, of the 5300 block of Fifth Street, N.W., was charged with four counts of credit card related offenses. She was not charged with Betts’ murder.
A statement released by Montgomery County Police says Williams was charged with two counts of knowingly receiving a stolen credit card with the intent to use it, attempted theft of less than $1,000 in value, and attempted fraud. The statement says several credit cards were stolen from Betts’ house at the time of the murder.
“It was learned that Betts’ credit cards were used to make purchases,” says the statement. “Surveillance photos were obtained of Williams using one of those credit cards on April 16, at the Giant Food located at 1280 East-West Highway in Silver Spring.”
Williams was held in the D.C. jail and scheduled to appear at 10 a.m. Tuesday for an extradition hearing at D.C. Superior Court.
Jordan said that with assistance from D.C. police, Montgomery County investigators executed separate search warrants on two D.C. addresses Monday morning in connection with the Betts murder: one along the 5300 block of Fifth Street, N.W., and the other along the 4300 block of Third Street, S.E. Police arrested Williams at the time of the search at the residence on Fifth Street, N.W.
He declined to comment on media reports that police had identified at least two male suspects in the case and were planning to arrest the suspects.
At the time they discovered Betts’ clothed body in an upper floor bedroom in his house, police said there were no signs of a forced entry into the house, leading them to conclude he invited his killer or killers inside.
Jordan and other police spokespersons have said investigators, among other things, were searching Betts’ phone records and computer to determine if he met someone through a possible dating service or chat room who might be implicated in the murder.
WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Celebrating the transgender community, Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization committed to empowering LGBTQ individuals in Baltimore City, plans to host their fourth annual Baltimore Trans Pride on Saturday.
Instead of the usual parade and march, this year’s Trans Pride will be a block party on Charles Street and between 21st and 22nd Streets. The event will start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and last until 10 p.m.
Community members can go on guided tours, enjoy refreshments by local vendors, listen to presenters, and watch performances by special guests.
Sukihana, the event’s headliner, plans to take to the stage to entertain the crowd, along with a variety of local performers, according to Melissa Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven’s executive assistant to Executive Director Iya Dammons.
“Some (are) prominently known, some (are) just making a name for themselves,” Deveraux said. Iya is always making sure that community talent is showcased at all of our functions.”
In company with Pride on Saturday, Baltimore Safe Haven will be opening its new building on Friday from 1-4 p.m.
“That is sort of going to be the prelude to pride,” Lau said. “Thanks to Sen. Mary Washington and the Weinberg Foundation, we were able to purchase the building outright, and it’s going to be a community hub of administrative buildings and 12-bedroom apartments.”
Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said the planning process for Baltimore Trans Pride began in January, and putting it all together was a collaboration of multiple city agencies and organizations.
“Safe Haven is an LGBT community organization, but we service the entire community, and that’s the message we try to spread,” Lau said. “We’re not just here for the LGBT community. We’re here to spread goodwill and offer harm reduction and housing to the entire community.”
Lau said the organization’s biggest goal for the event is to gain exposure.
“(We want) to let and let people know who we are and what our community is about,” she said. “Right now, because of what’s happening in DC, there’s a lot of bad untruths going on, and the total thing is bringing out the truth.”
Deveraux said having a place of inclusivity, acceptance, and togetherness is important in today’s political climate and the current administration.
“This event will have people seeing the strength and resilience of the transgender community, showing that no matter what we are going through, we still show up,” Deveraux said. “We are here, we will not be erased.”
The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)
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