Margery Magill, a 27-year-old graduate of UC Davis, was stabbed to death Tuesday evening in Washington D.C. Police there say the stabbing appears to have been a random attack.
After hearing screams, neighbors in the city’s Park View neighborhood called the police. Magill, who had been out walking a dog, was found unconscious with multiple stab wounds around 8:30 p.m.
Surveillance video led to the arrest Wednesday of Eliyas Agregahegne, 24, on suspicion of first-degree murder, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release. Investigators have not determined a motive for the attack and said that Agregahegne had no apparent connection with Magill. There was no evidence of robbery or sexual assault.
Magill studied International Agricultural Development at UC Davis and graduated in 2015. She had moved to Washington D.C. to intern for the Washington Center, where she was later hired to train people for study-abroad programs like the one she participated in through UC Davis.
After graduating from UC Davis, Magill went on to earn a master’s degree from Westminster College in London. Her passion for travel and international development has taken her to more than 20 countries, her family says.
After moving to Washington D.C., Magill took on small side jobs to make extra money, including walking dogs through Rover, a pet services app, her family told Sacramento TV station KOVR.
Magill’s father, Jeff, was woken at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning by a call from a Washington D.C. police detective who broke the news to him of his daughter’s death.
“It’s like the twilight zone,” he said to CBS Sacramento. “Am I going to wake up and this is a dream?”
“I still can’t wrap my head around it,” Magill’s sister, Raeann, told NBC Washington. “Why her?”
