Affidavit: victims lured to Irving Place SE, bound with duct tape and stabbed.
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Authorities say a 20-year-old man held in a Prince George’s County jail directed two girlfriends to kidnap and stab a D.C. woman on Oct. 20, using recorded phone calls to choreograph the attack hours before a court date tied to a prior case.
Federal prosecutors in Washington announced charges this month against Kayvon Edwards, 21, and two alleged accomplices, Robynn Danielle Bynum, 18, of Fort Washington, Md., and Cierra Charity Lee, 20, of the District. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the trio face counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping, alongside District charges that include kidnapping while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery. Investigators with the FBI and Metropolitan Police said a flat tire and the victims’ escape kept the attack from silencing testimony the next morning.
Investigators allege Edwards first tried to pressure the complainant to back out by having Bynum befriend her, send messages and even seek work at the same business. When that failed, they say Lee contacted the woman through social media, posing as a link to a childcare job. On Oct. 20, the complainant and a friend arrived at a home near Suitland Parkway and Stanton Road SE. Inside, according to the affidavit, Bynum attacked with a knife as the women were bound with duct tape and ordered to drop the case. Edwards, officials say, stayed on the phone and gave directions from jail.
The victims were forced outside and placed in the back of a car, authorities said. A surveillance image cited in court filings appears to show Lee and Bynum loading them into the vehicle behind a residence on the 2400 block of Irving Place SE. The car was driven to another part of Southeast Washington and abandoned. Near 11:45 p.m., a U.S. Park Police officer found the injured women along Minnesota Avenue SE. One had several stab wounds to her back; the other had knife cuts to a wrist. Police later found the vehicle on the 3200 block of M Street SE with blood stains and torn tape inside; the front passenger tire was flat.
Officials say the case’s timeline stretches back to January, when Edwards was arrested in Prince George’s County after the same woman reported a sexual assault. Prosecutors later said that case did not continue because of proof issues, but detectives noted that Edwards still faced a hearing on Oct. 21. The affidavit quotes recorded jail calls in which a male voice urged an accomplice not to “let me down” and to “make sure she’s dead.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the arrests on Nov. 5 and the filing of a federal complaint on Nov. 13. FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox and Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith joined the announcement, emphasizing the use of digital records in the probe.
All three defendants were ordered held without bond after initial appearances, officials said. Prosecutors credited MPD detectives, the FBI Washington Field Office and the U.S. Capitol Police with advancing the case. Court filings say investigators are still working to determine where the knife used in the attack came from and whether anyone else helped plan the meeting. A preliminary hearing is expected in Superior Court, with additional filings to outline the government’s evidence, including phone logs, text strings and video stills tied to the Oct. 20 route.
On Irving Place SE, residents said they heard shouting and the sounds of a struggle that Monday night. “It was loud and sudden,” said a neighbor who declined to give her name. Near Minnesota Avenue, a shop worker recalled officers canvassing sidewalks and securing a stretch of curb where the women sought help. Police did not immediately update the victims’ conditions beyond the initial injuries, but investigators said both women were able to talk with officers at the scene.
As of Friday, the defendants remain in custody and the federal complaint is active. The next milestone is a status hearing to be scheduled by the court, and prosecutors said more discovery will be produced as the investigation continues.
Author note: Last updated November 21, 2025.