Man found guilty of murder in brutal 2017 slaying of North Carolina woman

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A 30-year-old man was found guilty of murder stemming from the 2017 slaying of artist and yoga instructor Corrina Mehiel, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia and Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham announced Wednesday.

On March 21, 2017, Mehiel, 34, of Burnsville, North Carolina, was found bound and stabbed to death inside a rowhouse in the 600 block of 14th Street in Northeast Washington where she had been temporarily living.

Meheil was on a short-term contract with the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at the time of her murder. A charging document revealed she died from numerous stab wounds, including defensive wounds, according to the medical examiner.

After an investigation, on March 27, 2017, El Hadji Toure, of Laurel, Maryland, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and theft in connection to Mehiel's death. Newsham said it did not appear he and Mehiel knew each other.

Officials say on the morning of March 20, 2017, Mehiel was seen on video packing up a few belongings from her apartment when Toure broke into the home, kidnapped her and then sexually assaulted her before he stabbed her to death and stole her belongings, including her car and her debit card.

Toure was seen on video used Mehiel's card to withdraw money from several ATMs in Maryland and Virginia from the day of her murder through March 24, according to officials. Toure was also seen on Mehiel's block shortly before her murder. Officials say DNA evidence linked him to the crime.