U.S. Department of Justice
Jessie K. Liu
United States Attorney for the
District of Columbia
Judiciary Center
555 Fourth St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 20, 2017

For Information Contact:
Public Affairs
(202) 252-6933
http://www.justice.gov/usao/dc/index.html

District Woman Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
For Fatally Beating Man at Her Apartment
Defendant Told Police She Repeatedly Hit Victim With a Baseball Bat
WASHINGTON – Thomasine Bennett, 68, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to
10 years in prison on a charge of voluntary manslaughter for killing her 63-year-old boyfriend at
her apartment in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu announced.
Bennett pled guilty in July 2017 in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The
plea agreement, which was contingent upon the Court’s approval, called for an agreed-upon
sentence of 10 years in prison. The Honorable José M. Lopez accepted the plea today and
sentenced Bennett accordingly. Following her prison term, Bennett will be placed on five years
of supervised release.
According to a proffer of facts submitted at the plea hearing, on Feb. 17, 2017, at
approximately 12:55 p.m., officers with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) received a
call to investigate trouble at an apartment in the 700 block of 21st Street NE. Upon arrival,
officers found the victim, Walter M. Clark, unconscious and unresponsive inside a hallway closet
with multiple bruises to the body. The District of Columbia Department of Fire and Emergency
Medical Services transported Mr. Clark to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An
autopsy later determined that Mr. Clark, 63, died from multiple blunt force trauma.
Bennett met police officers when they arrived on the scene. According to the proffer, she
stated that her boyfriend was in the back and that he made her smoke “Love Boat” the previous
night. She directed officers to the hallway closet. Investigators quoted Bennett as saying that she
beat Mr. Clark with a baseball bat over the last day and a half. She was arrested and has been in
custody ever since.

 In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of those who
investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department. She also expressed appreciation
for the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including
Victim/Witness Advocate Marcia Rinker, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Earnest, who
investigated and prosecuted the matter.
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