Archive for the ‘Prince George's County homicides’ Category

Va. Woman Is Pr. George’s 29th Homicide Victim

Friday, April 8th, 2011

A Virginia woman was shot and killed in Bladensburg, Md., Thursday night, and a baby girl was found with her body, a Prince George’s County Police spokesman said.

Shawnta Lysheema Coleman, 33, of the 6400 block of Wilcox Court in Alexandria, Va., was found shot behind an apartment complex at about 10:20 p.m. Thursday, police Cpl. Henry Tippett said.

The baby, found with Coleman’s body in the 5600 block of Emerson Street, was unharmed, police Cpl. Larry Johnson said. She is in the custody of the Prince George’s County Department of Social Services, Johnson said.

A call made to the Department of Social Services was not immediately returned.

It was not known whether the baby was related to Coleman, Johnson said.

Coleman is the county’s 29th homicide victim in 2011, and the second this month.

Abraham Felipe-Lopez, 32, of the 1400 block of Kanawha Street in Langley Park, Md., was fatally stabbed during an argument on Saturday.

- By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Crime & Justice, Prince George's County homicides | 141 Comments »

Pr. George’s 22nd Homicide Victim May Have Been Homeless

Thursday, March 10th, 2011


Homicides in Prince George’s County this year; the latest is in red. View in a larger map.

A man with no fixed address was found dead in Landover, Md., early Wednesday morning, becoming Prince George’s County’s 22nd homicide victim in 2011.

George Eugene Borden, 46, who police say was likely homeless, was found dead at 4:40 a.m. in a house in the 1300 block of Eli Place in Landover, Md. Details on how Borden was killed have not been released by police and the investigation is ongoing, a police spokesman said.

Police Cpl. Evan Baxter said crimes involving the homeless are sometimes more difficult to solve, but the difficulty varies from case to case.

“A homeless guy found alone dead for a couple days in a back alley is one thing,” Baxter said. “If people knew him, that’s another.

“We have in the past had homeless cases that got solved within 24 hours. It’s case by case.”

Borden’s killing is the 22nd homicide in Prince George’s this year, but only the 21st to be investigated as a criminal homicide. The other was deemed self defense.

–By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Prince George's County homicides | 1 Comment »

Pr. George’s 20th Homicide Victim Identified

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Prince George’s County police have identified a Laurel, Md., man who was killed Feb. 17.

Aaron Patrick Brown, 24, was found dead in the 13000 block of Laurel Bowie Road in Laurel, near Deerfield Run Elementary School, at about 6:15 p.m., police Cpl. Evan Baxter said.

Brown was the county’s 20th homicide victim in 2011. Of those 20, 19 are being investigated as criminal homicides. The other was ruled self defense.

Baxter said police were still investigating the county’s most recent slaying and that no suspects had yet been identified.

Police are increasingly looking to the community to help solve the county’s homicides this year, the first of which occurred New Year’s Day. On Tuesday, Prince George’s County police teamed with a local radio conglomerate in Lanham, Md., taking phone calls from listeners and doing on-air interviews with radio personalities.

Police co-hosted the radio-thon with Radio One, which owns and operates five stations in the area, as a way to encourage listeners to provide information on crimes. A police spokeswoman said police hoped they would receive calls about information that could be used to help close some of those homicide cases, but calls from listeners were limited to community crime issues.

“The reaction has been very good,” Lt. Tammy Sparkman said. “Most of the calls are … citizens calling in to let us know about criminal activity in their neighborhood.”

Eight phone lines were manned by a team of 12 Prince George’s police officers, working in shifts, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Radio One stations WKYS 93.9 FM, WYCB 1340 AM, WOL 1450 AM, WMMJ 102.3 FM, and Praise 104.1 FM all participated.

-By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Crime & Justice, Prince George's County homicides | 6 Comments »

Three Homicides in Two Days in Prince George’s

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – A Suitland man was killed late Monday night, Prince George’s County Police said, becoming the county’s 19th homicide victim in 2011 and the third since Sunday morning.

A police spokesman said there did not appear to be a connection in the three homicides.

“It’s just the same random chance that was plaguing us before,” said police Cpl. Evan Baxter.

An arrest was made in one case today.

Thirteen people were killed in the year’s first 13 days, prompting county executive Rushern L. Baker to call for citizens’ help in identifying suspects on Jan. 18. There were three more homicides in the county in January after Baker’s plea, upping the total to 16, but the pace of killings slowed as police flooded the streets with overtime patrols.

Those extra patrols ended in January, Baxter said, but there had been no homicides in February until Sunday morning.

The most recent victim was Darian Michael Hinton, 27, who was found unresponsive in the 900 block of Kennebec Street in Oxon Hill, Md., at 11:30 p.m. Monday, police said. He died at a local hospital.

Hinton’s killing followed the death of Christopher Alan Trueheart, 44, who police say was killed by Eldridge Slaughter, 42, in a personal dispute. Slaughter has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Truehart was found in an apartment in Temple Hills, Md., around 2 p.m. Sunday, about 10 hours after a Forestville, Md., man was found dead.

Ralph Bernard Thomas Jr., 28, of Forestville, was stabbed in the 7500 block of Marion Street in District Heights, Md. He died at a local hospital.

Police said Thomas was in an argument with the suspect at Silver Hill and Suitland roads before he was stabbed. The suspect and a passenger were seen leaving in a light blue, 2007 or 2008 model Chevrolet Malibu with a Maryland license plate, police said.

-By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Crime & Justice, Prince George's County homicides | 2 Comments »

Pr. George’s 16th Homicide in Temple Hills

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

A Washington, D.C., man became the 16th homicide victim in Prince George’s County this year as he left a Temple Hills, Md., banquet hall early Saturday morning, a police spokesman said.

Brandon Earl Baswell, 24, was found shot outside Plaza 23 Event Center in the 4300 block of St. Barnabas Road in Temple Hills around 3:30 a.m., police Cpl. Larry Johnson said.

Baswell, of the 2900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue S.E., was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

Prince George’s County Police went to the scene when a Seat Pleasant, Md., police officer called county police after hearing gunshots, Johnson said.

Police have no leads and have not identified a motive in the shooting, he said, but believe someone saw the shooting take place.

“There were at least 50 to 100 people out there at the time who did not cooperate” when questioned by police, Johnson said. Most of those people are believed to have been in the Plaza 23 Event Center, where Johnson said a concert was just finishing.

A message left at the event center was not immediately returned.

Plaza 23’s website says the establishment is a banquet hall facility and that it is “available for rental seven days a week, 365 days a year on a first-come, first-served basis.”

Johnson said anyone with information can make an anonymous tip to Prince George’s County Police by calling Crime Solvers at 1-866-411 TIPS (8477), texting “PGPD” and a message to CRIMES (274637), or by submitting a tip via the police website.

-By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Crime & Justice, Prince George's County homicides | 12 Comments »

Police Officer Shot in Takoma Pk. Bank Robbery

Friday, January 28th, 2011

PALMER PARK, Md. – A Prince George’s County police officer was shot this morning after an armed man took hostages at a Takoma Park bank.

The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was shot and killed by police as he left the Capital One bank at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard with a female hostage. The hostage, whose name was not released, was “shaken,” but otherwise unhurt, Prince George’s County police said.

The officer who was shot has not been identified by police. He suffered minor injuries and was taken to a local hospital, said Prince George’s County Police Lt. Col. Gary Cunningham.

Cunningham declined to offer details about the officer’s condition.

Details of the shooting were unclear, but Prince George’s police spokeswoman Michelle Reedy said it’s a possibility the officer was accidentally shot by another officer when responding to the bank robbery. She did not have any other specific details shortly after noon Friday.

The attempted bank robbery occurred the same morning Prince George’s police planned to announce the closure of their fifth case related to the county’s spate of murders this month.

Prince George’s police arrested a suspect in the Jan. 8 killing of Alejandro Marcos Diaz Vasquez, 30, of the 7900 block of 15th Avenue in Langley Park, Md.

Police said a Hyattsville 16-year-old confessed Jan. 24 to stabbing
Vasquez in the 1400 block of University Boulevard. The teen suspect is being charged as a
juvenile with first- and second-degree murder.

Cunningham said the killing does not appear to be gang related, and that
there is no apparent relationship between the suspect and victim. He
said a motive has not been established because the suspect has provided
“conflicting stories.”

“He did admit to stabbing him,” Cunningham said.

Police said they did not know if the teen suspect had legal representation.

Prince George’s County was plagued by 12 criminal homicides in 13 days
at the start of 2011. Two murders have occurred since, with the last coming
Monday afternoon when police found Mckinney Antonio White Jr., 34, dead
in the 5700 block of Silver Hill Road in District Heights.

The pace of homicides has slowed in recent days.

“Obviously we’ve done some things to reduce the rate,” Cunningham said. “The
first 12 days we had 12 homicides. The last two weeks that number is
significantly reduced. So … we hope the trend continues.”

–By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Crime & Justice, Hyattsville, Prince George's County homicides, Takoma Park | 9 Comments »

District Heights Killing Is Pr. George’s 15th

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

A District Heights man was shot and killed late Monday afternoon, Prince George’s County police said.

Mckinney Antonio White Jr., 34, was found by police in the 5700 block of Silver Hill Road at about 5 p.m. Monday, a police statement said.

Police do not yet have any suspects or a motive.

“We’re still pleading with the public for information,” said police Cpl. Erica Johnson.

White, of the 6800 block of Atwood Street, is the 15th person killed this year in the county, including 13 homicides that occurred by Jan. 13.

Johnson said there is no indication that White’s slaying is connected to any previous case.

-By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Crime & Justice, Prince George's County homicides | No Comments »

Suitland Homicide County’s 14th in 2011

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

POSTED JAN. 19; UPDATED JAN. 20, 2011

Prince George’s County Police have identified the man killed in Wednesday’s early morning shooting in Suitland as Douglas Hodge Jordan Jr. of Washington, D.C.

Jordan, 22, was found in the 3500 block of Terrace Drive after police received a call about a shooting just after 2:40 a.m. Wednesday, said police Cpl. Larry Johnson.

Jordan, of the 2200 block of Mount View Place SE, was taken to a local hospital where he later died, Johnson said.

The slaying was the 14th homicide in Prince George’s County this year.

County Executive Rushern L. Baker III and local law enforcement officials held a press conference Tuesday to urge members of the community who have information about the killings to come forward.

Individuals with information who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411 TIPS (8477) or text “PGPD” and the message to CRIMES (274637) on a cell phone. Tips can also be submitted online through the Prince George’s County Police website.

Arrests have been made in four of the cases, including one announced Tuesday by Acting Police Chief Mark Magaw in connection with the Jan. 1 killing of Ansel Donovan Whitelocke, 58, of Chillum.

-By Maryland Newsline’s Alexander Pyles

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Posted in Crime & Justice, Prince George's County homicides | 7 Comments »