D.C. police are seeking help from the public in their investigation into the Dec. 30 Dupont Circle stabbing death of a 36-year-old man who had been arrested at least three times between 2016 and 2023 for assault related incidents in the neighborhood, according to police and court records. 

A police announcement says D.C. police and U.S. Park Police officers responded at about 3:58 p.m. Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, to Dupont Circle for a report of a stabbing. It says an adult male later identified as Dominique Ratiff of  Southeast D.C. was found unresponsive suffering from a stab wound.

According to the statement, he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. Police said they have made no arrest in the case, but a police liaison officer told the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission that a suspect was described as a male wearing a purple beanie and baggy sweatpants leaving the scene on a bicycle on New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.

Police have said the stabbing occurred at the western side of Dupont Circle that intersects with Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. near the CVS Pharmacy and a PNC Bank.

Court records show that Ratiff was first arrested on June 2, 2016, on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon and simple assault for allegedly hitting a woman with his walking cane following a “verbal altercation” in Dupont Circle.

D.C. Superior Court records show he was arrested again on June 15, 2016, for allegedly repeatedly punching a homeless man outside the man’s tent near 901 27th St., N.W., while wearing boxing gloves. That incident did not occur at Dupont Circle, but court records show prosecutors combined that case with the earlier assault case against the woman.

The records show both cases were dismissed by a judge after Ratiff complied with his pre-trial release requirements and successfully completed a “mental health” diversion program.

Records show Ratiff’s third arrest took place on April 16, 2022, when he was charged with Robbery Force and Violence, Theft Second-Degree, and Simple Assault for allegedly pushing a male victim against the wall outside of the CVS Pharmacy at Dupont Circle and taking money from the man after threatening to stab him.

Again, court records show all charges were dismissed against Ratiff after he complied with his pre-trial release requirements and successfully completed a court diversion program that included community service.

His fourth arrest occurred on July 18, 2023, court records show, when he was charged with Unlawful Entry-Private Property and Simple Assault for allegedly entering the CVS Pharmacy at Dupont Circle after having been barred from the premises one year earlier and assaulting a CVS manager who told him he had to leave.

The records show that a remote “citation” hearing was held on Aug. 9, 2023, which Ratiff attended with his attorney. According to the records, a judge ordered him to return to court on Sept. 20, 2023, for an arraignment and a judicial summons with the order was mailed to his address at 2863 Denver St., S.E.

The summons was returned as “undeliverable” on Aug. 22, 2023, and Ratiff failed to appear at the Sept. 20 hearing, the records show, prompting the judge to issue a bench warrant for his arrest. But the records show no further action, such as an arrest, had taken place and authorities did not learn of Ratiff’s whereabouts until the time he was found fatally stabbed in Dupont Circle.

Gay Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Vincent Slatt has called Ratiff’s murder a tragedy that possibly could have been prevented by better social services programs that Slatt said could have been arranged by the court system.

“This guy had gone through the system multiple times, and the social services have failed him,” Slatt told the Washington Blade. “And it resulted in him getting killed.”

Slatt added, “So, he was in several of these deferment programs. But ultimately, he still needed the social services, and it cost him his life,” Slatt said. “This is an indication that we need to improve our social services. And these people are falling through the cracks.”

D.C. police are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Ratiff’s murder. Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call the police Homicide Branch at 202-645-9600.

The Virginia Senate on Tuesday approved a resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The resolution that state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced passed by a 24-15 vote margin. An identical measure that state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) has proposed passed in the Virginia House of Delegates last week.

Sickles and Ebbin are both gay.

Voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2006.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.

The General Assembly in 2021 approved a resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment. It must pass in two successive legislatures before it can go to the ballot.

Local community activist Zar, who founded the D.C. LGBTQ event and advocacy group Team Rayceen Productions in 2014 in collaboration with fellow activist Rayceen Pendarvis, announced he has resigned from his position as the group’s creative director effective Jan. 14.

His announcement says since there is currently “nobody who is willing, ready, or able to be my successor, I must also announce that the current Winter Hiatus of Team Rayceen Productions will continue indefinitely.”  

The announcement says Rayceen Pendarvis will remain active in the community and remain available to be booked as a host, emcee, panelist, and wedding officiant in the role Pendarvis has played in the D.C. community for many years. 

The primary motivation for his resignation at this time, Zar said in his announcement, is his deep concern about the problems he believes will surface during the incoming Trump administration.

“I am all but certain that the next four years and beyond will be chaotic, and possibly dystopian or apocalyptic,” he says in his announcement. “This is not the time for diplomacy, compromise, or capitulation,” he continues. “I understand that advocating for peaceful and nonviolent solutions is generally considered the only acceptable tactic; I am unwilling to abide.”

Out of deference to Pendarvis and others involved with Team Rayceen Productions, Zar said it would be unfair “to allow my personal and political views to be conflated with those of anyone else,” including those involved with Team Rayceen Productions.

“This requires my resignation,” Zar wrote in his announcement. “I am unwilling to be silent or censor myself.”

Zar said that while Team Rayceen Productions’ operations are currently on hold, its online content will remain available, “including over 900 videos created over the past five years for our YouTube channel and our Facebook live streams.”