Court filings say the plan was to keep a witness from appearing the next day.
WASHINGTON — A man jailed in Maryland is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and stabbing of a woman in Southeast Washington on Oct. 20, directing two girlfriends by phone to carry it out the night before a scheduled court appearance, according to charging documents and law enforcement statements.
Prosecutors say the case centers on calls placed from a Prince George’s County jail and a lure that began as a supposed babysitting job. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced federal kidnapping charges this month against three people tied to the attack. Investigators with the FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department say the victims escaped and survived, setting off a probe that stitched together recorded jail calls, text messages and neighborhood video. The case is now in federal court, and officials say more evidence will be filed as the investigation proceeds.
According to an affidavit, 20-year-old Kayvon Edwards was awaiting a court hearing when, investigators say, he called two women and directed them to stop the complainant from showing up. The women—identified by authorities as 18-year-old Robynn Danielle Bynum of Fort Washington, Md., and 20-year-old Cierra Charity Lee of Washington—allegedly lured the complainant and another woman to a home off Suitland Parkway and Stanton Road SE on the night of Oct. 20. The pretense, investigators wrote, was a childcare opportunity arranged by text. Inside the home, the assailants ambushed the pair, bound them with duct tape and stabbed them while yelling at them to drop the case, according to the filing. “Make sure she’s dead,” Edwards said on one recorded call, the affidavit states.
The attack continued as the victims were forced into a car belonging to one of them and driven away, investigators said. A U.S. Park Police officer later found the injured women near the 3200 block of Minnesota Avenue SE after 11:45 p.m. One had multiple stab wounds to her back; the other suffered cuts to her wrist. Responding officers recovered the victims’ vehicle on the 3200 block of M Street SE with blood stains and torn duct tape inside. A nearby flat tire, noted by police, may have disrupted what investigators believe was a plan to abandon the complainant far from the courthouse the next morning.
Officials say the plot took shape over weeks. Investigators allege Edwards first directed Bynum to befriend the woman, message her and pressure her to recant. When that failed, the affidavit says, Lee contacted the woman through social media and arranged the meeting. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Edwards called both women repeatedly from jail to choreograph the attack. Authorities also cited home-security images that, they say, captured Bynum and Lee loading the taped victims into the vehicle behind a residence on the 2400 block of Irving Place SE before driving off. Neighbors later told reporters they heard commotion but did not grasp what was happening at the time.
Edwards had been arrested in January in Prince George’s County in a separate case in which the same woman reported she was sexually assaulted, according to court records summarized in the affidavit. That earlier case did not go forward, prosecutors said, citing proof concerns, but investigators allege the jail calls show Edwards still sought to silence her before the scheduled hearing. The announcement of federal charges came Nov. 13, with FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox and Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Authorities said the federal complaint includes conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping, and the defendants also face District counts of kidnapping while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery.
All three were arrested Nov. 5, according to officials, and held without bond after initial court appearances. Prosecutors said the case is assigned to an assistant U.S. attorney in the office’s Superior Court Division. Investigators credited the FBI Washington Field Office, MPD detectives and the U.S. Capitol Police with assisting, and said further filings could add to the public record in coming weeks. A preliminary hearing date has not been formally announced. The affidavit notes that some details remain unknown, including where the knife used in the attack was obtained and whether others helped plan the meeting.
On the block where police say the victims were loaded into the car, residents described a chaotic Monday night. “Nothing shocks me anymore, but it was scary,” said a neighbor who asked not to be named publicly. Another resident said she saw flashing lights and officers canvassing door to door later that night. Near Minnesota Avenue SE, where the victims flagged down help, a store worker recalled officers stringing tape and searching for a blade. The victims’ conditions were not detailed beyond the initial wounds, and authorities said both women were able to speak with detectives.
As of Friday, the defendants remained detained as the federal case moves forward. Prosecutors said updates will be filed on the public docket; investigators said they will continue to seek additional video and digital records tied to the Oct. 20 route. The next milestone is an expected status conference, with a date to be set by the court.
Author note: Last updated November 21, 2025.