WASHINGTON — The family of Wendy Martinez released a statement Wednesday urging anyone with any information of her fatal stabbing to contact police.
Martinez, 35, was fatally stabbed Tuesday evening near Logan Circle while jogging.
NBC Washington reports that the family released a statement saying, “Wendy Karina Martinez was the light of our lives.”
“Not only was she an avid runner, but she was a devout Christian, a wonderful friend, and a driven professional. Everything you hope that a daughter and a friend could be. She was also excited to be planning her upcoming wedding to her fiancé, Daniel Hincapie. They were engaged just last week.”
NBC Washington also reports that the statement “asked for respect for their privacy as they grieve and urged anyone with information on her killing to contact police.”
Police are still seeking a single assailant in Martinez’s stabbing death.
The suspect was described as a black man wearing a long-sleeved mustard-colored, thigh-length shirt and dark-colored sweatpants that were rolled up. He was wearing white socks and light-colored sandals. Newsham said the suspect has a distinctive style of walking.
Martinez had described herself as a runner as well, in an interview with tech publication TheBridge earlier this year.
On TheBridge, Martinez wrote, “I’m a runner and also love H.I.I.T workouts. After work, you’ll either find me running around the city or at my local (and favorite) studio in DC working up a sweat.”
Martinez’s neighbor, Courtney Johnson, is now reconsidering her own workout routine.
“I’m not going to run at night. I feel like, at this point, I just want to run during the day,” Johnson said.
Along with her strong love for running, Martinez was dedicated to her work, having last posted on her Facebook account about how proud she was of her team at FiscalNote, Inc., after a big acquisition.
Great day serving in DC! https://t.co/ULq0Dg9Csp
— Wendy K. Martinez (@Wenditakm8) August 17, 2018
Martinez graduated from Georgetown in 2012, where she majored in Latin American Studies. Georgetown’s Center for Latin American Studies tweeted out their condolences for the center’s former student.
We write to share the very sad news of the tragic death of Wendy Karina Martinez (CLAS’2012), who was attacked last night in Logan Circle. Our thoughts and prayers are with Wendy and her family and friends at this terribly difficult time https://t.co/hHDU4AdbYB pic.twitter.com/fic8Ispla8
— Georgetown CLAS (@GeorgetownCLAS) September 19, 2018
Beyond running, the tech industry and Latin America, Martinez told TheBridge she enjoyed coffee at Swings Coffee or Bourbon Coffee in D.C.
Martinez was jogging near the corner of 11th and P Streets just before 8 p.m. Tuesday night when she was stabbed multiple times. She stumbled into a nearby Chinese carryout restaurant where bystanders assisted her, but she later died from her injuries at the hospital.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said that her stabbing seems to be random, but that these incidents “sometimes happen in large cities.”
WTOP’s Megan Cloherty contributed to this report.
