The Metropolitan Police Department has made a decisive move in a recent homicide case, arresting 58-year-old Richard Lionel Dyson for the murder of Donella Bryan in Northeast D.C. The MPD detailed the progress of the case in a press release published yesterday, confirming Dyson's charge of Second Degree Murder while Armed following an investigation into the death of the 62-year-old woman.
Details from the MPD report show that the case unfolded starting April 19, when Fifth District officers were dispatched to Maryland Avenue after receiving reports of an unconscious person. Bryan's body was discovered inside a dumpster at approximately 8:07 a.m., and she was declared dead at the scene by D.C. Fire and EMS. The following day, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, and the death was officially ruled a homicide.
Dyson's arrest came almost two months later, on Wednesday, following the issuance of a DC Superior Court arrest warrant. The MPD release states, "The detectives’ investigation determined that the offense is domestic in nature," hinting at a potential relationship between the victim and the suspect, which may have led to the fatal event.
The deceased, identified as Donella Bryan, was a resident of Northeast D.C. Prior to the arrest, there was little information available to the public regarding suspect identification or the circumstances of her death. Dyson, who shares the same Northeast neighborhood as Bryan, has been taken into custody pending further legal proceedings.
