Keys man covered in blood was charged with beating his girlfriend to death, deputies say
A routine stop for a blown car tire led Key West officers to discovering a bloodied driver who left a grisly scene where authorities say he beat his girlfriend to death.
He was the second person to be charged with murdering his girlfriend in Monroe County on Friday.
Delmon Washington, 44, was covered in blood and erratic when officers pulled his Hyundai over around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said. Officers didn’t see any injuries or anyone else in the car.
The car wasn’t Washington’s and they found a purse belonging to his girlfriend, 46-year-old Latisha Tiare Alce, inside.
Washington was cuffed and charged with driving under the influence, resisting an officer, disorderly conduct and assault on an officer, the sheriff’s office said.
The officers reached out to the owner of the car, a family member of his girlfriend, and tried to contact Alce but couldn’t.
The family was suspicious that Alce wasn’t with Washington and went to their home on Stock Island.
They found Alce covered in blood and unresponsive, the sheriff’s office said. When Monroe Sheriff’s deputies got there they tried to revive her, but she died at home.
“Alce appeared to have suffered blunt force trauma to her face and much of her body,” deputies said. “There was a lot of blood at the scene as well as a broken table near her body.”
While scrubbing a nearby business’ security footage, police saw Washington and Alce at the home earlier Friday night. Later, the camera caught Washington throwing away a large object and some clothing before leaving in his Hyundai.
As Washington was already in jail, an additional charge of murder was added by the sheriff’s office.
“These cases are never easy, but this one was resolved very quickly due to the outstanding partnerships between the Sheriff’s Office, Key West Police Department, the State Attorney’s Office and the Medical Examiner’s Office,” said Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay. “The suspect in this case would not have been identified and taken off the street in such a short amount of time had it not been for the great work among my staff and those partners.”
The sheriff’s office says Washington has faced several felony charges dating back to 1999, including aggravated battery, battering on law enforcement, kidnapping and armed burglary.
