Local
Woman to be sentenced in Donovan Hotel murder
Gallmon, disguised as a man, stabbed victim 7 times
Jamyra Gallmon, 21, admitted to stabbing David Messerschmitt multiple times in his hotel room on Feb. 9. (Photo courtesy of MVP Protective Services)
A woman who pled guilty in May to second-degree murder while armed in connection with the murder of D.C. attorney David Messerschmitt at the Donovan Hotel is scheduled to be sentenced in Superior Court on Aug. 21.
Jamyra Gallmon, 21, admitted to stabbing Messerschmitt multiple times in his hotel room on Feb. 9 following a scheme to rob him by pretending to be a man while answering an ad he placed on Craigslist seeking to meet another man for sex.
Prosecutors disclosed in a court hearing on May 28, at which Gallmon pled guilty, that she sent Messerschmitt, 30, a photo of a man’s torso as part of her email response to his Craigslist ad. Her response prompted Messerschmitt to invite a person he thought was a man to his hotel room, according to a police arrest affidavit.
Police and prosecutors said Gallmon entered the unlocked hotel room wearing a hooded jacket and covering over the bottom half of her face. When she attempted to rob Messerschmitt he fought back, and she stabbed him at least seven times in his chest, groin area, arm, and back, police and prosecutors said.
Also scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 21 is Gallmon’s roommate and girlfriend, Dominique Johnson, 19, who pled guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery in the Messerschmitt case. Prosecutors said she assisted Gallmon with plans to rob Messerschmitt but was not responsible for his murder.
LGBT activists following the case have expressed concern that it had close similarities to a so-called gay pickup murder. Police and gay community advocates have said such murders involve perpetrators who target gay men by pretending to be interested in a sexual tryst and who trick the victim into inviting them to the victim’s home or another meeting place, where they rob and sometimes kill the gay victim.
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PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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