Published December 23, 2020 •
Updated on December 23, 2020 at 12:23 pm
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images & Win McNamee/Getty Images & Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images (L-R)
Between the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, a renewed racial justice movement and an election that will unseat President Donald Trump, it’s been a monumental news year in Washington, D.C., and our region.
Here are the top 20 local stories that captivated readers and viewers in 2020.
First COVID-19 Cases Diagnosed in DC, Maryland and Virginia in March
At first, there were just three people in the D.C. area who were known to have COVID-19. A woman in her 50s and a married couple in their 70s, all from Montgomery County, Maryland, fell ill after taking a cruise in Egypt, officials announced on March 5. Two days later, a U.S. Marine at Fort Belvoir in Virginia was announced to be positive, along with with the first two cases in D.C., those of a church rector and an international v
Mohamed Aly. Photo from Blue Ridge Regional Jail.
A Virginia teenager, who was charged in February with the double homicide of two Northwest High School graduates, has been sentenced to four consecutive life terms plus 18 years.
Mohamed Aly, who was 18 at the time, was arrested Feb. 13 and charged with killing Ayanna Munne Maertens Griffin, 18, and Ntombo Joel Bianda, 21, according to Virginia State Police (VSP). Maertens Griffin and Bianda were dating, according to a statement from the Halifax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. Fox 5 DC reported they met as students at Northwest High School in Germantown and were living in Alexandria. Aly was an Alexandria resident.
Trone headed for coveted committee assignment in 117th Congress
Plus: Whitman grad launches bid for comptroller with goal of boosting equity; Teen pleads guilty to killing two high school grads Bethesda Beat Staff |
Trone headed for coveted committee assignment in 117th Congress
Rep. David J. Trone is headed to a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee in the 117th United States Congress.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Thursday that Trone has been nominated for appointment to the committee for the upcoming session. [Maryland Matters]
Whitman grad launches bid for comptroller with goal of boosting equity
Del. Brooke E. Lierman, a civil and disability rights attorney from Baltimore, launched the state’s first 2022 bid for comptroller on Thursday, laying out a vision to broaden the job of chief tax collector to address income inequality.
Aly told police he was having thoughts bad and good and said he was having doubts about college and his home life. Download our NBC Washington app for iOS or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather.
Early the morning of Feb. 8, Aly asked Bianda to pull over on Highway 58.
“I pointed the gun at his head,” Aly told police. “Without thinking, without saying anything, I pulled the trigger.”
Then he shot Maertens-Griffin, according to prosecutors.
He parked on the median and removed the victims’ bodies from the car, which he then drove to Danville where he picked up a juvenile friend, prosecutors said.