IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Navy medic charged with murder after allegedly stabbing man 40 times in Washington, D.C.

The suspect allegedly told police that when he found blood on his body he did not know where it came from.

A Navy medic assigned to a U.S. Marine Corps base in Virginia was charged with murder after police found him standing over a man who had been stabbed to death.

Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Collin J. Potter was arrested by Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police and held in civilian custody, according to the Marine Corps Training Command. He is charged with first-degree murder while armed, according to police.

Police responding to a call from a Washington apartment building early Sunday morning found Potter, nude, standing over Vongell Lugo, who was dead and lying naked on a hallway floor outside of an apartment, according to court documents. Lugo had been stabbed approximately 40 times in the neck, chest and abdomen.

Image: Police say Navy Hospital Corpsman Collin J. Potter stabbed a man to death at this apartment building on Wisconsin Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.
Police say Navy Hospital Corpsman Collin J. Potter stabbed a man to death at this apartment building on Wisconsin Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.Darcy Spencer / NBC Washington

Potter told police in "spontaneous statements" that his "girlfriend" had committed suicide and pointed to the victim, asking if "she" was still alive, according to the documents. Potter also banged his head against the wall and stated that he had used marijuana and alcohol.

Police had to pin Potter to the ground, at which point he asked officers to kill him, stating he did not want to live, the court documents said.

Later, he told investigators that he had performed oral sex on a male, but did not know why. He also said that when he discovered blood on his body, he did not know where it had come from.

Police also found a pool of blood on the floor of the apartment and blood spatter on the walls and ceiling. Smeared areas of blood on the floor were "consistent with subjects moving about during the commission of the crime, the documents said.

A knife with a "stain" was found in a butcher block, and another was found in a sink with the water running, the court documents said.

Lugo, 36, had subleased the apartment since 2013, according to investigators.

Potter, 26, is assigned to The Basic School at the Corps' Training Command, at Quantico, Virginia, according the the Marines. He joined the Navy in September 2010.