A 69-year-old New Jersey man has been sentenced to a quarter-century behind bars for the murder of his much younger girlfriend, with an additional five years of supervised release set to follow. William Barrett, from Mount Holly, received a 25-year prison term this week after pleading guilty to second-degree murder while armed, a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office detailed.
Barrett and the victim, Romaine Maddox, who was 36, checked into a D.C. area hotel last February to celebrate her birthday when the day turned tragic. According to court documents, the incident began on the evening of February 22, in the 1600 block of New York Avenue, N.E. They stayed for several hours before a hotel surveillance video showed Ms. Maddox screaming for help from their hotel room around 2:00 a.m. She would not be seen again alive. U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and MPD Chief Pamela A. Smith praised the efforts of the MPD and the U.S. Attorney's Office in bringing the case to a close.
The grim details of that night unveiled in court had Barrett admitting to an argument that escalated to violence. As per the government's evidence, Barrett used a ceramic toilet tank lid to strike Ms. Maddox multiple times over the head. Following the brutal assault with the lid, Barrett then used his belt to strangle her, finally falling asleep while she lay blood-soaked on the floor. In the morning, Barrett left his deceased girlfriend in the room and hotel staff found her body hours later.
In a statement, authorities expressed their gratitude for the meticulous investigation and diligent prosecution that led to Barrett's sentencing. "They also commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah C. Santiago, who investigated and prosecuted the case," according to facts found in the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement. Barrett, who faced justice before Honorable Judge Robert Okun on October 25, 2024, entered his guilty plea back in late August. His future now lies within the confines of a prison institution, the remainder of his life dramatically altered by the events of one haunting February evening.
