A Washington man was charged with murder after he confessed that he killed a handyman and left his body to rot in the backyard of a Northeast DC home he shared with his sister.
32-year-old Lavaughn Barnes told investigators that on November 4, 2022, he attacked Abdulio Arias-Lopez while the victim worked in the house after he got angry for unspecified reasons.
Barnes said that he tased the victim in the back of the head and stabbed him to death before chopping up his head and arms.
He then placed the mutilated body in a trash bag and discarded it in the backyard. The body was discovered on February 3 in an advanced stage of decomposition.
Police said that Barnes lived in the basement of the home owned by his sister. Detectives found blood all over the basement.
Barnes' lawyers said that he suffered from mental health issues and that his confession should not be taken for the truth.
Prosecutors called the incident a “motiveless, brutal attack on a handyman resulting in his death.”
