Wendy Karina Martinez, the woman who was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in Washington, D.C., was living the “happiest time of her life,” her friends said Thursday.
The 35-year-old Martinez had just gotten engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Daniel Hincapie, last week and was looking forward to planning her wedding, friends said.
“The last communication I had with Wendy was at 6 o’clock on Tuesday night and it was to confirm going shopping with her on Friday for her wedding dress,” said a tearful Kristina Moore. “This was the happiest time of her life.”
About two hours after sending the text to Moore, Martinez was attacked and stabbed to death while jogging in the Logan Circle neighborhood of the nation’s capital.
“This is incredibly unfair and senseless,” Moore said. “She was taken from us too soon.”
Martinez lived about two blocks from where she was killed allegedly by Anthony Crawford, 23, who randomly targeted and stabbed her repeatedly, said Police Chief Peter Newsham of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.
Crawford was taken into custody in a Washington, D.C., park Wednesday night following a more than 24-hour manhunt. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder early Thursday, Newsham said.
“She was an accomplished professional, who by all accounts was beloved by family and friends,” Newsham said. “I cannot even begin to imagine what her fiancé, what her family, what her mom, what her brother, what her friends are going through right now, and I want to extend our heartfelt condolences to this family.”
Martinez’s mother, Cora Martinez, called her daughter “the light of our lives.”
“Not only was she an avid runner but she was a devout Christian, a wonderful friend and a driven professional,” Cora Martinez said in a statement. “[She was] everything you hope that a daughter and a friend could be.”
Martinez worked as the chief of staff for FiscalNote, a software, data and media company headquartered in Washington.
“Wendy was an invaluable member of our team and a vibrant member of the community,” the company said in a statement.
On Aug. 29, Martinez posted a message on Facebook saying how much she loved her job.
“Two years ago today since I entered a new space that significantly changed my professional trajectory,” Martinez wrote. “Two years of pushing me outside of my comfort zone, while teaching me about the inner workings of building a company, and what it takes to reach success. This is my B-school, hustling and working with a team driven by the same purpose and goal to connect the world to its governments.”
She was a 2012 graduate of Georgetown University, where she majored in Latin American studies.
“Wendy was not only beautiful and not only brilliant and a hard worker … she was joyful, funny, loving and always there,” said Moore, adding that Martinez was “just determined to live out the American Dream.”
She said Martinez lived in the Logan Circle neighborhood for about eight years and felt comfortable jogging daily in the area.
“She lived two blocks from here and she loved it. She felt safe,” said Moore, standing with three of other friends of Martinez at the corner of P Street and 11th Street northeast D.C. near where the slaying occurred.
D.C. Mayor Murial Bowser said community residents are “outraged” by Martinez’s death.
“We do expect safety in our neighborhoods, any and all neighborhoods,” Bowser said. “Whether in Logan Circle or Wellington Park, we want people to feel safe going about their normal activities. And a woman jogging on our streets is a normal activity.”
Martinez was also a volunteer at the Central American Resource Center, or CARECEN, a nonprofit organization that provides legal services to Latinos.
“Wendy gave back to the immigrant community by enthusiastically tutoring students as they prepared for the U.S. naturalization exam,” the organization said in a Facebook post. “Wendy will be missed by the CARECEN community but will live on through the students she helped to achieve U.S. citizenship.”
Friends and loved ones are expected to gather in Logan Circle at 7 p.m. Thursday for a candlelight vigil to honor Martinez.
“There is a hole in our hearts that will never be replaced,” Moore said.
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