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Man in custody in double slaying of mother and child in Prince George’s County Man in custody in double slaying of mother and child in Maryland
(about 4 hours later)
A Maryland man was arrested in the killing of his 2-year-old daughter and the child’s mother, according to Prince George’s County police and court documents. His 2-year-old daughter was sitting in her car seat when he turned the gun on her and opened fire, police said. He had gone to the girl’s Fort Washington home early Tuesday morning and waited for her mother to leave the house to confront her about the $600 in monthly child support he recently had been ordered to pay, according to police and court documents.
Daron Maurice Boswell-Johnson, 25, faces charges in the fatal shooting of NeShante Alesha Davis, 26, and her daughter, Chloe Nichole Davis-Green, outside their Fort Washington home Tuesday morning, police said Wednesday afternoon. The disagreement over those payments turned violent, police said, leaving NeShante Alesha Davis, 26, and her daughter, Chloe Nichole Davis-Green dead.
Detectives quickly developed a suspect in the case, said Hank Stawinski, interim police chief for Prince George’s County. Stawinski said the man who was arrested acknowledged his involvement in the double homicide. Daron Maurice Boswell-Johnson, 25, was charged with two counts of first- and second-degree murder in relation to each death after he admitted to killing his daughter and Davis, Prince George’s County law enforcement officials announced Wednesday.
Davis was found dead in the parking lot of Pinewood Hill Condominiums on Palmer Road just before 7 a.m. A neighbor heard gunshots and called 911, police said. Inside a dark blue sedan nearby, her daughter also was found shot. She was taken to a hospital, where she died. Boswell-Johnson was arrested in Montgomery County on Tuesday shortly after police began investigating the double slaying at the Pinewood Hill Condominium on Palmer Road, said Hank Stawinski, the county’s interim police chief.
Friends, family, neighbors, and teachers and students at Bradbury Heights Elementary School, where Davis taught for the past year, mourned and wondered Tuesday afternoon who would commit what many called a heinous act. “While this resolves [the case], this is not a happy circumstance,” Stawinski said at a news conference Wednesday evening. “This is a callous and cold-hearted crime.”
“This is something that is not acceptable to the residents of Prince George’s County,” Stawinski said. He said the crime “shocks the conscience,” and that officers have worked “tirelessly” and overnight. “We’re pleased that we’re just about to resolve this case.” Davis was on her way to work as a teacher and was taking her daughter to day care just before 7 a.m. Tuesday when Boswell-Johnson confronted her in the parking lot of the townhouse community, police said. Shots were fired, leaving Davis dead outside her home and her daughter shot nearby inside a dark-blue sedan. The girl was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Court records indicate that Boswell-Johnson was ordered in November to pay $600 in monthly child support for Chloe after a paternity test indicated that he was her father. Boswell-Johnson and Davis had had an ongoing disagreement over child support payments, police said. Court records indicate that Boswell-Johnson was ordered in November to pay $600 in monthly child support for Chloe after a DNA test indicated that he was her father.
Family for Boswell-Johnson could not be reached Wednesday, and it is unclear whether he has an attorney yet. Boswell-Davis told detectives that he drove to Davis’s home, “parked down the street and waited nearby for her to exit her residence,” charging documents state. He then “approached her at gunpoint and demanded that she drop her ongoing child support petition.”
The killing of Davis’s daughter is the second homicide involving a child in the county this year. Last month, a 6-month-old girl died after suffering blunt-force injuries. Police said the boyfriend of the mother caused the injuries. Video surveillance captured the crime.
On Tuesday, family members stood across the street from the crime scene and described Davis as a “wonderful daughter” and a “beautiful mom.” One man, who said he was an extended relative but did not want his name used for privacy reasons, said Davis “would do anything for anybody.” “The windows [of the car] were not broken in,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks said at the news conference with Stawinski. “The door had to be opened in order for the baby to be shot.”
Davis lived at the home on Palmer Road with her aunt and uncle, said her cousin Dimitria Taylor, who also lived there. Davis enjoyed spending time with her family and doing her makeup and hair, Taylor said. Immediate family members of Boswell-Johnson’s could not be reached or did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday, and it is unclear whether he has an attorney.
Neighbors said they were shocked by the shooting. Boswell-Johnson’s cousin Raynardo Boswell said he was shocked to learn about the arrest. Boswell said that he did not know of any problems his cousin might have had and that the family has been “crying and crying” over the news of the charges against him.
Sherie Matthis, who has lived in the area for 30 years, described the family as full of “good people.” Matthis said she often saw Davis in the parking lot playing with her daughter. “This doesn’t sound like him,” Boswell said. “He’s a good boy. He’s a good man. He takes care of his kids.”
“They both had a future,” she added. “This is awful. This is trifling. This is dirty.” Boswell-Johnson has two other children from another relationship, and he requested sole custody of them in 2014, according to court records filed in Prince George’s County. That case was dismissed after neither party appeared for a conference, court records indicate.
A man who lives in the area said he awoke to the sound of three or four gunshots and called 911. The death of Davis and her daughter mark the third and fourth domestic-related homicides among the 10 killings the county has recorded this year, police said.
“It doesn’t make you feel good,” said the man, who, fearing retribution, also asked to remain anonymous. Alsobrooks said her office would aggressively investigate and prosecute the case to “bring Mr. Johnson to justice and bring peace to this family.”
“Nothing like that has ever happened around here,” he said. But Alsobrooks also urged the community to work on how it can address family violence before more killings like those of Chloe and her mother occur.
Davis graduated from Bowie State University in May with a degree in elementary education, and she began working at Bradbury Heights Elementary School. Officials at the school called parents Tuesday morning, notifying them that they would tell students that Ms. Davis would not be coming back to class. “We are tired of talking about babies dying in our community,” Alsobrooks said. “These cases can’t be resolved here at the police station. They can’t be resolved at the courthouse.”
The school had crisis teams available for students, parents and teachers, and they will remain on campus “as long as they need it,” according to a statement from Prince George’s County Public Schools. Davis graduated from Bowie State University last year and was a second-grade teacher at Bradbury Heights Elementary School in Capitol Heights.
“This is a great tragedy,” said Theresa Mitchell Dudley, president of the teachers union in Prince George’s. “The violence in our community affects everyone — our educators, our children, our families.” The killing of Davis and her daughter stunned friends, family members, neighbors and students at Bradbury Heights. Many had wondered Tuesday who could have committed such a crime. The apparent resolution of the case Wednesday was bittersweet.
On Tuesday afternoon, parents picked up their children at the Capitol Heights school and struggled with how they would help them handle the news. “These circumstances do not lead us to celebrate,” Stawinski said. “Coming and talking about the death of another child, it’s unacceptable.”
Tiffany Byrd’s 7-year-old son was a student in Davis’s class. With Davis as a teacher, Byrd’s son improved his reading scores, and the teacher took extra time to look after the boy, who has a medical condition that sometimes would leave him tired or temperamental, Byrd said.
“She was really kind and very patient,” Byrd said. “Everything she did, she did with extra care and attention.”
Byrd’s son said he and his classmates cried when they were told that their teacher would not be coming back.
He described his teacher as “nice and funny” and liked that she helped him improve his spelling.
“Sometimes I wouldn’t know words, and she said, ‘Sound it out,’ ” Byrd’s son said. “She helped me until I got it right.”
Erik Hines, another parent, said that Davis quickly became a favorite teacher in just her first year in the classroom. His 7-year-old daughter was a student of hers and wouldn’t want to go to school if she knew that a substitute teacher would be there instead of Davis.
“She was very loved,” Hines said of Davis. “She clinged to those kids like they were her own.”
As Hines spoke, his daughter came up to the car and quietly stared at him through the passenger-side window.
Bundled up in her purple coat, she climbed inside and then burst into tears.
“Hey, baby,” Hines said softly as he wrapped her in his arms and whispered words of comfort.
She continued weeping on his shoulder for a few minutes before he wiped away his own tears and drove away.
Matt Zapotosky and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.Matt Zapotosky and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.