Two Washington, DC, men have been accused of choking, beating, burning, and ultimately killing a man in his condo after he politely let them into the lobby of his upscale building.

Rico Barnes, 36, and Alphonso Walker, 39, have been charged with first-degree murder in the homicide of Syed Hammad Hussain, 40, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced in a statement Friday.

Hussain was allegedly murdered inside his loft-style, one-bedroom unit in the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue NW near D.C.’s Logan Circle, the condo valued at more than $480,800, according to the Daily Mail.

According to the U.S. Attorney:

As described in the arrest warrants issued in the case, at approximately 3:33 a.m., on Feb. 11, 2026, D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Service (FEMS) members responded to a 9-1-1 call that reported smoke coming from [the condo.]  Responding FEMS members saw the smoke and entered the one-bedroom apartment, which was unlocked. Inside the members found Mr. Hussain lying on the floor, unconscious and unresponsive, with his wrists and ankles bound by neckties. The victim had succumbed to his injuries. The apartment was otherwise unoccupied.

The Daily Mail provided further details from the arrest affidavit, noting that two 25-pound metal dumbbells were also discovered on the floor near the victim’s body.

Surveillance footage showed Hussain entering his building around 1.30 am as two men followed closely behind him. He was returning home after picking up some food, according to police.

“They knocked on the door, he let them inside,” Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief of Police Jeffery W. Caroll said at a news conference last week. “In this case, they just took advantage of him.”

Barnes and Walker assaulted Hussain in the lobby and continued the attack out of view of surveillance cameras, according to police. There was blood around Hussain’s head, on the floor, and on a nearby wall in the upscale building, according to the affidavit.

The trio eventually ended up in the man’s loft-style condo, where first responders found the victim in the smoke-filled unit.

Hussain died from blunt force trauma and ligature strangulation, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia.

His skull was fractured in three different places, perhaps from the dumbbells, and the abrasions around his neck were “consistent with the application of a cord or similar object.

”Hussain’s chest and upper body were also badly burnt and deeply charred, though that was determined to have occurred after his killing,” according to the Mail.

Based on the apartment and a source interviewed by detectives, robbery appears to be the motive.

Responders found the unit ransacked. Laptops were missing. A charger for an electric bicycle was also found, but the bike itself was missing.

According to the affidavit, an acquaintance of the suspects told old investigators that Barnes and Walker returned to the condo after the alleged murder.

“He said they were carrying a bag containing about $50,000 in foreign currency, along with jewelry, watches, laptops and a foreign passport believed to be from El Salvador,” the Mail reported.

The acquaintance also said the pair claimed they tied up the victim, whom they called a “foreign person,” who became unconscious, but they hit him “every time he would wake back up.”

Hussain’s cellphone was also nowhere in sight when homicide detectives began investigating.

This prompted them to obtain Hussain’s number and call it. The iPhone was turned off, but it pinged near Howard University shortly after the suspects left the condo, which aided in locating the suspects, according the Mail account.

Suspect Barnes worked just a half a block from the crime scene, police said, while suspect Walker was wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor during the alleged homicide.

Data from his ankle monitor placed him at the scene, according to the affidavit.

Preliminary hearings for the two men charged are scheduled for May and early June.

Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime bestseller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.