‘Where’s Chyna?’: 5 charged with murder in DC woman’s 2023 disappearance

A D.C. woman who disappeared in 2023 has never been found, but despite many unanswered questions, police believe they have enough evidence to charge five people with her murder.

Chyna Crawford was last seen on South Capitol Street in Southwest Oct. 23, 2023. Her body hasn’t been found.

In the years since, D.C. police have made numerous arrests, first charging a suspect in March 2024. It’s taken two more years to find enough evidence to charge all five suspects.

“Our detectives did a phenomenal job – missing persons, United States attorney’s office – they all did a phenomenal job working together,” D.C. police Cmdr. Kevin Kentish said. “And essentially, we were able to recover evidence – whether it be cellphone evidence, whether it be video evidence – and they were brought into the grand jury. People testified. People gave factual information.”

Crawford’s Aunt Nakeshia Arrington said she’s been waiting a long time for the day police would charge all five suspects in Crawford’s death. And not just conspiracy charges, but murder.

A year after a D.C. woman disappeared, Chyna Crawford’s loved ones gathered to keep her memory alive. News4’s Walter Morris reports her family still wants answers even after two people were arrested for murder.

“On behalf of my family, I can honestly say that we are happy that evil people, you know, are now in custody, and we will be getting justice very soon,” Arrington said.

In January, prosecutors unsealed a 44-page indictment with 126 charges against three of the defendants. It included information that Crawford had been shot to death and her killing may have had to do with an ongoing neighborhood beef.

“I do know that there was a group of people,” Kentish said. “We’re unsure of the motivation or the motive. They got together, and it seems to be planned, at this point. Based on all the information we have, it seems to be a planned homicide, and we don’t know why.”

Crawford’s family hopes they will someday learn what happened to her and be able to give her a proper burial and goodbye.

“To be honest, my logo is ‘Where is Chyna?’” Arrington said. “Anytime anybody go on social media or anything, that’s what they see, ‘Where’s Chyna?’ Because again, my family still doesn’t have a body; my family still is not able to actually bury Chyna. All we can do is just hope and pray one day we can at least get a body so that we can do a memorial.”