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District of Columbia

Casa Ruby receiver files for bankruptcy

Jan. 21 deadline set for creditors, former employees to apply for reimbursement

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Ruby Corado is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 10. (Blade file photo)

In a little-noticed development, the Wanda Alston Foundation, which assumed control over the operations of the D.C. LGBTQ community services group Casa Ruby in August 2022 under a court-appointed receivership role, filed a petition on Aug. 27 of this year to place Casa Ruby in bankruptcy.

The petition, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia, says Casa Ruby has estimated liabilities to at least 50 creditors of more than $1 million and estimated assets of between $0 and $50,000.

Nick Harrison, an attorney representing the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services to homeless LGBTQ youth, said Casa Ruby currently has no known financial assets, including cash.

He said the bankruptcy petitionā€™s estimated assets of up to $50,000 are based on a pending lawsuit that the Alston Foundation filed against eight former Casa Ruby board members and Casa Rubyā€™s founder and former executive director Ruby Corado in December 2022. The lawsuit accuses the board of violating D.C.ā€™s nonprofit corporation law by failing to exercise oversight over Casa Rubyā€™s operations that led to its financial collapse and shutdown in 2022.

The lawsuit calls on the court to require Corado and the former board members to pay ā€œrestitution, compensatory damages, punitive damages, receivership fees and expenses, court costs, attorneysā€™ fees, and expenses, and any other relief the court deems necessary and proper.ā€

A D.C. Superior Court judge on May 1, 2023, dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Alston Foundation against all but one of the former Casa Ruby board members but did not dismiss the case against Corado.

The Alston Foundation has appealed the ruling dismissing the lawsuit, and the case is now pending before the D.C. Court of Appeals.

The lawsuit also alleges that the board failed to adequately oversee the actions of Corado, who pleaded guilty in July of this year to a charge of wire fraud as part of a plea bargain deal offered by prosecutors.

The charge to which Corado pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for D.C. says she allegedly diverted at least $150,000 ā€œin taxpayer-backed emergency COVID relief fundsā€ awarded to Casa Ruby to ā€œprivate offshore bank accounts for her personal use,ā€ according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorneyā€™s office.

Corado, who initially denied the allegations against her, is currently staying with a family member in Rockville, Md., in a home detention arrangement following her arrest by the FBI on March 5 of this year. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 10.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya A. Dayson stated that her decision to dismiss the lawsuit against seven of the eight former board members was based on her interpretation of D.C. law. She said she believes the law holds that members of an organizationā€™s board of directors can only be held liable for harming an organization like Casa Ruby if they ā€œintentionally, rather than negligently, inflicted harm on Casa Ruby.ā€

The judge said she did not dismiss the case against one of the board members because the lawsuit presents evidence that the board member received some financial benefits from Corado.

In a legal brief filed with the appeals court, the Alston Foundation attorneys state that evidence shows the Casa Ruby board members ā€œwere deliberately indifferent or ā€˜willfully blindā€™ to the alleged wrongful conduct of the nonprofitā€™s executive director amounting to actual knowledge on their part that inaction would harm the nonprofit, ultimately and forcibly leading to its financial inability to continue operation.ā€

The former board members have declined requests for comment on the lawsuit.

Harrison, the attorney representing the Alston Foundation in the bankruptcy filing, said anyone who is owed money by Casa Ruby has until Jan. 21 to file a ā€œproof of claimā€ form with the bankruptcy court to be eligible to be compensated if funds become available.

At the time of Casa Rubyā€™s shutdown, the organizationā€™s employees were among those who said they were not paid in the months or weeks prior to the shutdown.

Asked what prompted the Alston Foundation to file the bankruptcy petition on behalf of Casa Ruby, Harrison said, “Filing the bankruptcy petition ensures that a trustee with the appropriate expertiseĀ can wrap up the remainingĀ issues while allowing the Wanda Alston Foundation to stay focused on its core mission.”Ā 

U.S. Bankruptcy Court records show that one of the officials in charge of collecting proof of claim forms for those owed money is Mark E. Albert, a court appointed Trustee for the bankruptcy filing. Court records show he can be reached at 202-728-3020.

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District of Columbia

D.C. police seek help in Dupont Circle murder probe

Records show victim was arrested three times for area assaults

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Dominique Ratiff was stabbed to death on Dec. 30. (Photo courtesy of the MPD)

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 ā€œverbal altercationā€ 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 manā€™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 ā€œmental healthā€ diversion program.

Records show Ratiffā€™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 ā€œcitationā€ 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 ā€œundeliverableā€ 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 Ratiffā€™s whereabouts until the time he was found fatally stabbed in Dupont Circle.

Gay Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Vincent Slatt has called Ratiffā€™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.

ā€œThis guy had gone through the system multiple times, and the social services have failed him,ā€ Slatt told the Washington Blade. ā€œAnd it resulted in him getting killed.ā€

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

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

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District of Columbia

Team Rayceen Productions goes on ā€˜indefiniteā€™ hiatus

Local LGBTQ advocacy groupā€™s co-founder resigns

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Activist Rayceen Pendarvis will remain active in the community but colleague Zar announced his resignation. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

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 groupā€™s creative director effective Jan. 14.

His announcement says since there is currently ā€œnobody 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.ā€  

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.

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

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

ā€œThis requires my resignation,ā€ Zar wrote in his announcement. ā€œI am unwilling to be silent or censor myself.ā€

Zar said that while Team Rayceen Productionsā€™ operations are currently on hold, its online content will remain available, ā€œincluding over 900 videos created over the past five years for our YouTube channel and our Facebook live streams.ā€

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District of Columbia

25K people attend People’s March in D.C.

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is on Monday

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The People's March was held downtown Washington on Jan. 18, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Upwards of 25,000 people attended the People’s March that took place in D.C. on Saturday.

Participants ā€” who protested against President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals they say would target transgender people, immigrants, women, and other groups ā€” gathered at McPherson and Farragut Squares and Franklin Park before they joined the march that ended at the Lincoln Memorial.

The Gender Liberation Movement is among the groups that sponsored the march. Dozens of other People’s Marches took place in cities across the country on Saturday.

Trump’s inauguration will take place in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Michael K. Lavers)

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