Woman Came to D.C. for a Concert. She Was Stabbed 34 Times in Hotel Room, and Killer Who Smoked Cigarette Learns Fate By Nicole Acosta 18

A man who randomly stabbed a Virginia woman to death in her hotel room after she traveled to Washington, D.C., for a concert has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, prosecutors said.

George Sydnor, 46, was handed down the sentence Friday, Jan. 16 after pleading guilty in October 2025 to one count of first-degree murder while armed, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a press release. His prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release.

According to prosecutors, Sydnor brutally murdered 31-year-old Christy Bautista shortly after she checked into her ground-level room at the Ivy City Hotel in Northeast D.C. on the evening of March 31, 2023. The Harrisonburg, Va., woman was in town to attend a concert, they said.

After checking in, she unloaded her belongings from her car. About an hour and a half later, surveillance footage shows Sydnor arriving at the hotel on a rideshare bike and heading toward a group of ground-floor hotel rooms near Bautista’s room, per the release. Prosecutors noted the rooms were accessible from the street.

“Sydnor parked his bike in front of Ms. Bautista’s window and then stood at her door as if listening in before abruptly entering her room slamming the door behind him,” the release states. “Once inside, the defendant attacked Ms. Bautista, stabbing her multiple times, killing her.”

According to prosecutors, further surveillance footage captured several “loud thud noises” immediately after Sydnor entered Bautista’s room and a witness heard a woman screaming for help.

Bautista had been stabbed 34 times in the neck and back, per reporting by WUSA 9. Officers reached the scene within minutes. They found Sydnor sitting on the bed smoking a cigarette, with blood on his hands and Bautista’s body on the floor, the outlet reported.

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At the time of this offense, Sydnor was on release for a previous attempted robbery case, the release states.

In court, prosecutors described the killing as “sadistic,” while Bautista’s loved ones spoke about their loss, WTOP reported.

“Just the randomness of it all is, I don’t know, it’s hard to digest, because things could have been prevented,” the victim’s sister, Emily Bautista, said, per the outlet. “She was aware. She moved her car right out in front of her hotel room. She had all the right precautions, and she still was killed randomly.”

Christy’s other sister, Ashley Bautista, added of the tragedy, “I feel a humongous hole in our heart…never being able to talk to her again, to love her and to hug her. I miss her so much,” WTOP reported.

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Sydnor, who sat in a wheelchair, also gave a brief apology in court, saying he “never intended for none of this to happen and I’m terribly sorry,” WUSA9 reported. His attorneys argued that his remorse and declining health warranted a shorter sentence of 35 years, per the outlet.

Christy was remembered in a GoFundMe campaign created in the wake of her death as someone who “made an impact on everyone’s lives that she encountered.”

“She was a shining light that lifted up everyone’s spirits around her,” the fundraiser reads. “She encouraged people to do things they were afraid of and cheered them on.