What I know so far: covering the November stabbing death of a 19-year-old woman at Cedarwood apartments
Today and tomorrow, I’ll be reporting from the Douglas County District Courthouse from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. covering the preliminary hearing of Rontarus Washington Jr., 19, of Lawrence.
Washington is charged with first-degree murder in the brutal November 2014 slaying of Justina Altamirano Mosso, also 19 and of Lawrence, at her estranged husband’s south Lawrence apartment.
I’ve been captivated by this case, likely because I had so many experiences investigating it before Washington was arrested. So as I sit in court waiting to bring you more information, I wanted to remind you of some of the details of what is shaping up to be a pretty interesting case.
••••
A little after 7 a.m. on Nov. 10, I get a news tip.
“You hear about the murder?”
“Uh oh,” I think, “it’s going to be a long day.”
Little did I know that in a few days I would be having a face-to-face conversation with the man who was charged with first-degree murder in the case.
••••
I make my way to the crime scene at 1727 W. 24th St. and confirm that there is indeed an active investigation underway. Then I start talking to residents of the apartment complex. I hear quite a few stories that won’t ever make the rental brochure for Cedarwood Apartments.
One set of neighbors tell me that in the apartment where the homicide occurred the man and woman who lived there only spoke Spanish (that detail may come in handy later) and “were always making noise and fighting.” Another neighbor I talk to tells me that a man who lived in the apartment had threatened her husband with a knife in the hallway. I ask her if she knows the man, and she said she doesn’t because he only speaks Spanish.
I go to the newsroom and write my story.
••••
Later that week, a Journal-World photographer joins as I return to Cedarwood to knock on more doors. Eventually, we make it to the door of Alexus Sanders, who lives three doors down from the crime scene. The photographer and I have a friendly conversation with Sanders. She tells how her apartment recently had been broken into, but she’s not afraid of whoever killed the woman down the hall because she has a baseball bat and she “knows how to use it.”
During the interview, her boyfriend comes to the door — Rontarus Washington Jr. At this point, he’s just another guy to us. She invites us inside, telling stories of the crime that happens in the neighborhood and landlord troubles. Washington chimes in here and there, sitting down on a lawn chair in the living room to play a video game.
We go on their back deck and look out. I remember Washington asking the photographer to take his photo, and he poses (it was later deleted.) Having all that we need, the photographer and I return to the newsroom. I write the story and later forget about the encounter with Washington.
••••
Fast-forward to January. I receive word that there has been an arrest in the case, and it has been 18-year old Washington, of all people. He’s found in his hometown of Greenville, Miss., and at first it appears sketchy, like an attempt to skip town. I’d forgotten that I’d met Washington until I look through my old notes and see his name jumping out from the pages.
I see Sanders — his girlfriend — at the courthouse in the days that follow. I ask her why he was in Greenville. She tells me they’d allegedly gotten into an argument about a week prior that got so bad that she’d poured bleach on him, then kicked him out of her apartment. With nowhere to go, he got a Greyhound bus ticket home to see his parents and young son, she said.
In his booking photo, Washington is wearing the same hoodie Sanders claimed she poured bleach on. You can see the discoloration in the photo:
••••
But here’s where the case takes a twist. Washington’s attorney Sarah Swain has contended the “real killer” is Felipe Cantu Ruiz, the man who leased the apartment where the victim – Mosso – was discovered.
During the course of reporting on this crime, I developed a relationship with Mosso’s family. They tell me stories of her kind spirit, caring nature and dream of a better life for her daughter, Danna, whom she left with her parents in Guerrero, Mexico.
They also tell me about the the years of alleged domestic abuse that Mosso suffered under Ruiz. They were married, Mosso’s family said, and she’d recently left him and moved in with her cousin in a nearby apartment.
At this point you also may remember some unflattering stories that neighbors had about a Spanish-speaking man that lived in the apartment with Mosso. An affidavit in the case alleges that Ruiz and Mosso had an argument and become estranged prior to Ruiz and Mosso’s cousin reporting to police that Mosso was missing. To be clear, though, Ruiz has not been charged in connection with this crime.
Also, it is important to remember that Douglas County prosecutors say they have strong evidence that Washington committed the crime. Among that evidence is a fingerprint on a broken toilet tank top that is believed to have been used in Mosso’s killing. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has said the fingerprint appears to match Washington’s.
As you can already tell, this is probably going to be a very interesting case. What’s happening today and tomorrow is a preliminary hearing where prosecutor C.J. Rieg will present evidence that she hopes will show probable cause that Washington committed the crime. Chief Douglas County District Judge Robert Fairchild will decide whether it is enough evidence to bind him over for trial. Defense attorney Swain has been adamant about having Ruiz at the preliminary hearing; I expect he’ll be called to testify at the preliminary hearing either today or tomorrow.
Keep your eyes on LJWorld.com for updates from the hearing.
Hopefully one thing that is not forgotten in all the courtroom proceedings that are to come, however, is the victim, and those who loved her in her native Mexico. Her family sent me these photos of her funeral procession.