Derrick Delonta Scott, one of six people accused in a burglary-homicide investigation in 2004, has been apprehended after more than a year of eluding police, the Charles County Sheriff's Office announces.
Detectives obtained a warrant for Scott on July 16, 2004, charging him with first degree murder, burglary and other charges relating to the July 14, 2004 burglary that resulted in the death of an innocent motorist and one of Scott's co-conspirators. Detectives suspected Scott was in DC and they worked with DC police to apprehend him. On August 7, 2005 shortly before 6 a.m., a DC police officer went to Scott's residence in the 1300 block of Saratoga Avenue. He found Scott at the residence, placed him under arrest and transported him to the DC jail. Scott waived extradition and was transported to the Charles County Detention Center August 10, where he is being held pending a bond review.
The crimes Scott is charged with began July 14, 2004 at 9:05 a.m. when Scott, who was 18, broke into a garage at a residence in the 8300 block of Arthurs Court in Pomfret, along with Alton Lee Peele-Howard, 16, of Suitland and DC residents Kenneth Ray Spencer, 14, Anthony Deangelo Wade, 15 and De'Angelo Wayne McNeil and Tayron Marquell Hamm, both 17. They attempted to steal a four-wheeler and an off-road motorcycle but when passers-by observed them, they fled the residence in two vehicles: a white van occupied by Peele-Howard and Wade and a purple mini-van occupied by the other accused.
The mini-van became disabled after striking an embankment in front of a nearby residence and the occupants - Scott, Hamm, Spencer and McNeil - fled on foot. The white van continued to flee the area.. After a lookout for the white van was dispatched, a Maryland State Police trooper saw it traveling east on Hawthorne Road. The white van then struck a Mercury Mountaineer, fatally injuring its driver, Cynthia Chester, 50, of Indian Head, and Wade, the passenger in the van. Peele-Howard, the driver of the van, was injured but he was released from the hospital the following day and immediately taken into custody.
The occupants of the purple van stole a Toyota Camry from a residence on Bumpy Oak road after their van crashed. A lookout for the Camry was dispatched and the Maryland State Police found it traveling on Route 5 near Woodyard Road. The vehicle crashed near Naylor Road and the four occupants fled. Two of them, Hamm and Spencer, were apprehended shortly after the crash. Scott and McNeil fled. McNeil was arrested Sept. 21.
Peele-Howard, Hamm, Spencer and McNeil were all charged with first degree murder and burglary. Peele-Howard is currently serving life in prison with all but 30 years suspended. McNeil is serving 10 years in prison. Hamm and Spencer were sentenced as juveniles and are being held until they are 21 years old.
Det. T. Miner investigated the incident.