Sherine Williams, 24, of Sterling, was found murdered in her home last weekend, and authorities say she probably knew her killer.
“I will say this was no random killing. She may have known her murderer, her assailant,” Kraig Troxell, spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, said Monday.
He would not identify the method used to end her life and autopsy results were not available by deadline Tuesday. “There are details we may hold based on the fact only we and the killer know them,” he said. “We can use this to our advantage.”
WILLIAMS LIVED in a two-bedroom apartment on Reserve Falls Terrace in the Reserve at Town Center apartment complex in Potomac Falls. A member of her family summoned authorities Sunday afternoon, because no one had heard from her since she called her family at 5 p.m. Saturday, Troxell said.
Deputy sheriffs knocked on her ground-floor apartment door and looked around outside about 4 p.m. Sunday, but did not force their way in. “When there are no signs of foul play or anything amiss, we don’t have the authority to enter,” he said. Four hours later, family members went into Williams’ home and found her in the bathroom right inside the front door. Williams’ family lives in Loudoun County. They did not have a key, so they found other means to get inside, Troxell said.
He said authorities believe she was dead when they checked on her earlier in the day. The homicide must have happened between 5 p.m. Saturday, and 4 p.m. Sunday, he said.
Williams, an African American and a Trinidad native, worked at First America Field Services in Sterling. Wayde B. Byard, a spokesman for Loudoun County Public Schools, said it appeared she had not attended any county schools.
A “COMMAND UNIT” and several other Sheriff’s Office motor vehicles remained parked at the complex late Monday night. Yellow tape used to keep people away from the site was set up around the vehicles, and across the snow-covered land between a driveway and her apartment building. A back entryway also was cordoned off. “We have been working around the clock,” Troxell said.
He denied a news account that the homicide might have been the result of a domestic dispute with her boyfriend. “I do not believe that is accurate,” he said.
Dave Harris, a neighbor on the second floor of the apartment complex, said he did not know Williams. He described the neighborhood as one in which people mostly kept to themselves. He and his wife, Beth, have lived in the Reserve at Town Center for two and a half years. Other neighbors said they also had not had the opportunity to get to know her. A woman who lived in an apartment directly above Williams, only said, angrily, “You have to go.”
Heather Harding, property manager, said police asked her and the staff not to provide any information. She also cited residents’ confidentiality. Troxell said the management forbade the media from coming onto the complex property late Monday.
Anyone with information about the homicide should call the Criminal Investigations Division at 703-777-0475. For callers who prefer anonymity, contact Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919 or 1-877-777-1931.