DC carjacking suspect charged with murder after taking SUV from hospital, crashing with victim inside: police (2024)

A D.C. carjacking suspect was charged with murder after police say she stole an SUV from a hospital with a woman in the passenger seat on Monday afternoon and then crashed, killing the woman.

The victim’s daughter had left her mother in the SUV for a moment to get her a wheelchair from the hospital, police said.

The victim was Leslie Marie Gaines, of Northeast D.C., the Metropolitan Police Department said in an update. She was 55.

The suspected carjacker is Kayla Kenisha Brown, 22, of Southeast, police said.

Brown was charged with felony murder, kidnapping and carjacking. She appeared in court on Tuesday and a judge ordered her held without bond.

Police revealed new details on the stunning crime.

A suspect accused of stealing and then crashing a car with a woman still inside made her first appearance in court in the District. News4's Aimee Cho reports.

Brown was with her family at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, in the 100 block of Irving Street NW, on Monday when she walked away from them at about 1:11 p.m., police said.

According to police, Brown's family said she had been acting erratically for about three days after taking some kind of drug with a man she met on Instagram. Brown had arrived at the hospital in an ambulance.

At the same time, the driver of a Mazda SUV pulled up to the front of the hospital. She got out to get a wheelchair for her mother, who was riding in the passenger seat.

Brown got into the driver’s seat and sped off with Gaines still inside.

Eighteen minutes later, at about 1:29 p.m., the carjacker was headed north in the 400 block of Sixth Street NW, in the Judiciary Square area, about 3 miles south of the carjacking scene. She tried to turn left onto D Street but “failed to negotiate the turn” and crashed into the building at 601 D Street NW, police said. The building is the offices of the U.S. attorney and attorney general for D.C.

Brown got out of the smashed SUV and tried to run but was immediately detained by an MPD captain, who spotted the crash in his rearview mirror.

Gaines was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police initially characterized the victim as "elderly" and later said she was 55.

'That woman did not deserve that'

A woman said she was heading from work to get lunch when she heard a loud screech. Moments later, she said she saw the SUV crash into the building. She said her heart goes out to the victim’s family.

“That woman did not deserve that, and I just pray for her family and what they’re going through, because it was hard to watch, so I know it must be hard for them to deal with this,” Ja’Von Hill said.

In court on Tuesday, Brown's attorneys argued that Brown used no force in taking the SUV, meaning it was not a carjacking. They also argued that Gaines may have been dead before the car was taken.

No information was immediately released on the suspected carjacker’s possible motive. The investigation is ongoing. An autopsy will determine Gaines’ cause and manner of death, police said.

D.C. saw carjackings more than double in 2023. In 2024 thus far, carjackings are down 33% compared to the same period last year, MPD data shows. Police say 69% of the crimes involve guns, 68% involve juveniles and 90% of arrestees report to be D.C. residents.

The Metropolitan Police Department is upping its use of helicopters to crack down on carjackings. According to police data, in 2023 there were 958 carjackings but only 173 arrests. Authorities hope in 2024, they’ll be able to solve significantly more of these cases.News4's Mauricio Casillas reports.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.