LA PLATA, Md. - Two suspects wanted for murder in connection with a Dec. 28 shooting in Waldorf were arrested yesterday, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office just announced.
Dwayne Thompson, 22, of Washington, D.C., and Darryl Jerome Smith, 22, of Temple Hills are charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, five counts of first-degree assault, two counts of armed robbery and one count each of theft of property valued at more than $500, theft of property valued at less than $500 and using a handgun in the commission of a felony/violent crime.
The arrests were part of a coordinated effort between the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPDC). Working with the MPDC, detectives developed information about Thompson’s whereabouts and MPDC arrested him near his residence at about 8 p.m. He is being held in the district as a fugitive, pending extradition to Charles County. Smith notified Charles County detectives about his whereabouts and was arrested on Kennebec Street in Oxon Hill at about 7:30 p.m., with assistance from Prince George’s County police. He was transported to the Charles County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.
Another man, Joseph Wendell Edwards, Jr., 20, of Waldorf, was arrested on Dec. 30 as part of the investigation, which began on Dec. 28 at 11:33 p.m., when officers responded to a residential parking lot in the 3200 block of Westdale Court in Waldorf for the report of the shooting. Upon arrival, officers observed a 2005 Dodge Magnum damaged by several bullet holes. They discovered a man inside the vehicle who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound and an adult male lying near the vehicle with a gunshot injury. Two other adult males were found in the area and were not injured.
Detectives responded to the scene and found the four victims had been seated inside the vehicle when they were approached by four or five black male suspects wearing dark clothing and masks and armed with handguns. The initial investigation revealed the suspects robbed the victims of money and property and fired shots into the vehicle and at the victims before fleeing. As the investigation progressed, detectives determined the victim and the suspects knew each other and were involved in an on-going dispute.
The deceased victim was identified as Steven Fulton McGregor, Jr., 25, of Forestville, Md. His body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. The injured man was flown by a Maryland State Police helicopter to the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. His injuries are still being treated. He and the other victims are not being identified because they are considered witnesses in the investigation, but they are all Waldorf males between 20 and 25 years of age. Two of them live in the area where the shooting occurred.
The incident remains under investigation.