Police Charge Man In 2019 Southeast Stabbing Death Of A Woman

Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 8:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

WASHINGTON, DC.- Yesterday, Lamont Stephenson, 50, formerly of Newark, New Jersey, currently serving a New Jersey State Prison term for the 2014 murder of his then fiancée and her dog, was taken into custody and formally charged in connection with the brutal stabbing death of a 40-year-old woman that occurred in March of 2019, inside a Southeast, D.C. residence.

     According to D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, on March 6, 2019, shortly after 8:30 p.m., members of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s Sixth District responded to a request for Police Officers to conduct a welfare check at a Southeast, D.C. residence. 

Police Officers Find Ms. Kiah And Her Cat Dead Inside The Home

     Upon arrival, Police Officers made entry into the home and discovered the body of Natina Kiah, 40, of Southeast, D.C., who had succumbed from an apparent stab wound. Ms. Kiah was subsequently pronounced deceased at the scene by members of DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services. A post-mortem examination was performed on Ms. Kiah’s remains, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the Cause of Death to be Sharp Force Trauma and Manual Asphyxiation, and the Manner of Death to be Homicide.

Detectives Identify Stephenson As The Suspect

     During the years-long investigation, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Branch Detectives were able to identify the suspect as Stephenson of Newark, New Jersey. Detectives further determined that during the early morning hours of March 6, 2019, Stephenson, who at the time was on the run for the 2014 Newark, New Jersey murder of his fiancée and her dog, entered Ms. Kiah’s Southeast residence and stabbed and strangled her and her cat.

In February 2025, A D.C. Superior Court Grand Jury indicted Stephenson

     In February 2025, a D.C. Superior Court Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Stephenson with first-degree Murder While Armed and Animal Cruelty. On February 14, 2025, Stephenson, who is currently serving a term of 30 years to life in New Jersey State Prison, was transported to Washington, D.C., and arraigned before Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on the charges.

     On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, Detectives of the Homicide Branch of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department formally charged and processed Stephenson on the charges. 

“The rules of the court require us to include a statement that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations, and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”