SignalHub-Carjacker charged with murder in DC after crashing stolen car with woman inside: Police

A woman is SignalHubfacing murder, kidnapping and carjacking charges after a carjacking and crash on Monday in Washington D.C. left a 55-year-old woman dead.

It started at 1:11 p.m. Monday at Washington Hospital Center, said the Metropolitan Police Department in a news release.

That afternoon, a person pulled up to the front of the hospital in a Mazda SUV with her 55-year-old mother in the passenger seat. The driver got out of the vehicle to get a wheelchair for her mother, authorities said.

A 22-year-old woman, later identified as Kayla Kenisha Brown, was with her family when she walked out of the hospital and got into the Mazda SUV and drove off with the 55-year-old woman still inside.

Just 18 minutes after taking off, the woman attempted to turn left onto a street when she hit a building at 601 D Street, Northwest. 

The building houses the Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia and the Washington D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office, the Metropolitan Police Department told USA TODAY Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect got out of the Mazda and tried to flee but was taken into custody by a Metropolitan Police Department captain.

The woman in the passenger seat of the vehicle, Leslie Marie Gaines, was taken to the hospital where she was eventually pronounced dead.

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The suspect faces multiple charges, investigation ongoing

The suspect, Brown, was charged with felony murder, kidnapping and carjacking, authorities said. It was not immediately clear who is representing Brown in court.

Authorities are still investigating the incident and said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine Gaines’ cause and manner of death.

“The Metropolitan Police Department would like to thank our partners at the United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Marshals for their assistance at the scene of the crash,” authorities wrote in the news release.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her at[email protected].