Homicides rise in last year

Friday, Jan. 2, 2009

"A majority of the homicides are the result of disputes that escalated into homicides," said Diane Richardson, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

The county police numbered its homicides at three in 2007 and five in 2006, Richardson said.

According to the Uniform Crime Report, which records crime differently from county police, Charles County had four murders and non-negligent homicides in 2007 and four in 2006. The state police crime report takes the intent behind the homicide into account, and only tallies willful killings for its murder count.

In March of this year, Austin Demetrius Brown, of Indian Head, became the county's first victim of homicide for the year. Brown's roommate, concerned because he hadn't gotten up for work, discovered the 37-year-old shot to death in his bedroom, police reported.

No arrests have been made in the case, and Richardson said the motive for the killing is not clear.

"We are looking into the possibility that whoever killed him knew him. There were no signs that his room was burglarized and no signs of forced entry," she said.

A Waldorf man has been charged with first-degree murder in the May strangling death of his girlfriend, Jasmine Nicole Clark, 23. According to court papers, Clark's daughter reported hearing her mother arguing with Louis Stanley Leysath III, 28, before the slaying. Leysath's trial in the case is scheduled for February.

In June, Michael Lamont Beverly, 33, of Waldorf, was shot to death in front of an Elks Lodge in Newburg. Police reported that Terrell Lamont Thompson, 36, of Waldorf, was arguing with a Newburg man when Beverly stepped in to calm the fight. Thompson allegedly shot Beverly with a handgun and was arrested on the murder charge in early December after eluding authorities for several months, according to police.

Joseph Ray Burgess, 21, of Waldorf, was also killed during an argument, according to documents charging James Cornell Ford Jr., 20, with the murder. The court papers allege that during an August fight about a woman, Ford shot Burgess with a handgun in a Waldorf neighborhood.

Ford is scheduled for trial in May, according to online court records.

In late September, Charles County police handled two homicides in the same day. Jessica Angela Murray, 18, of Waldorf, was discovered shot to death in her home on Sept. 25. Police reported that her stepfather, Christopher George Murray, 39, shot Jessica Murray before committing suicide.

Sheriff Rex W. Coffey said homicides as a result of domestic problems are the most difficult to prevent.

On Sept. 25, police found the body of Misael Hernandez Segura, 50, of Waldorf, in a pond at the end of Drake Court. He had been stabbed to death, and his roommate, Santos Cruz Sagastume-Perez, 25, was charged in the murder.

Two men from St. Mary's County have been charged in the October death of Joshua Matthew Gregor, 25, of La Plata. Gregor hit his head on the ground outside Pure Restaurant and Lounge in Waldorf after allegedly being punched by Justin Enoch Burch Ferrall, 30, of Hollywood, and Brian Anthony Hickman, 28, of Mechanicsville, according to charging documents in the case. Ferrall was charged with second-degree assault in the case, and Hickman was charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault and affray.

Police are still investigating the death of Daniel Argueta Cordova, 28, of Waldorf, who was found stabbed to death behind the Waldorf Lowe's on Nov. 11. Richardson said that she couldn't give details on the status of the investigation, but that police have developed good leads in the case.

"Information suggests he was intentionally targeted and killed for reasons we can't disclose," she said.

The final homicide of the year occurred a day later on Nov. 12, when Shelton D. Stephens, 52, of Dunnellon, Fla., died after being stabbed. Former Washington, D.C., police officer Joseph John Plass, 58, of Waldorf, was charged with the murder, but according to Richardson, a motive for the crime remains unknown.

"None other than Stephens was really a random crime," said Richardson, commenting on the year's homicides.

One additional homicide is under review by the state's attorney's office. Michelle Thornton, 39, of Mechanicsville, died after being struck by a car in November in White Plains. Police said Thornton was waiting at a bus stop near U.S. 301 and was involved in an argument with her boyfriend when she was hit by the car. Coffey said his department is accounting for the death as a homicide.

"What is clear is that she was in the roadway and was struck by a vehicle. What is not clear and what we are trying to determine is how she got there," said Richardson after the incident.

brodgers@somdnews.com