Source: Office of United States Attorneys
WASHINGTON – Byron Ajanel, 24, of Washington, D.C., was indicted on March 26, 2025 on felony charges for strangulation, assault with significant bodily injury, and threats stemming from his violent attack on his pregnant former girlfriend, U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced.
Ajanel is scheduled to be arraigned on May 13, 2025, at a hearing before the Honorable Judith Pipe.
According to the government’s evidence, on January 1, 2025, the defendant got into an argument with the victim at her house in DC in front of their one-year-old daughter. The argument escalated into a physical assault that included the defendant kicking the victim into a wall, strangling her with both hands around her neck, punching her in the face, and shoving his foot into her jaw. While he was attacking her, he repeatedly threatened to kill her. At the time of the attack, the defendant was aware that the victim was pregnant with their second child.
The defendant’s charges include strangulation, which the D.C. Council’s Secure D.C. Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024 made a felony offense. Strangulation is widely recognized as one of the most lethal forms of intimate partner violence. A major strangulation study in San Diego, which is frequently cited, found: “Many victims suffer internal injuries, including permanent brain damage. Signs and symptoms do exist and can be documented even without visible injury… Most abusers do not strangle to kill. They strangle to show they can kill. Victims often suffer major long-term emotional and physical impacts. Surviving victims are much more likely to die later if their abuser has strangled them.” The study also noted that “…..the odds of becoming a victim of attempted homicide increased by 700%, and the odds of becoming a homicide victim increased by 800%, among women who had been strangled by their partner.”
This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Lieberman.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.