Father arrested for murder of Md. teacher, their 2-year-old daughter
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. - Police have arrested a 25-year-old man for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter and the girl's mother outside of their Fort Washington home.
The arrest was made on Wednesday, a day after NeShante Davis, a first-year teacher at Bradbury Heights Elementary School, and her daughter, Chloe Davis-Green, were fatally shot.
Prince George's County police have charged Daron Maurice Boswell-Johnson, of Forestville, with first- and second-degree murder. He is being held without bond.
Police said Boswell-Johnson has confessed to the murders.
Just after 4 p.m., Boswell-Johnson was escorted out of police headquarters in handcuffs. The 25-year-old said nothing as he was walked into a cruiser that took him to the county detention center in Upper Marlboro.
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According to a paternity suit filed in court, Davis filed a claim looking to positively identify Boswell-Johnson as the father of the 2-year-old girl. A DNA test confirmed Boswell-Johnson as the father of Davis' child. The court then ordered him to pay $600 a month in child support.
According to court documents, Boswell-Johnson went to confront Davis about child support payments outside of her home. An argument over the issue eventually led to the shooting.
Officers initially received a call for the shootings in the 1300 block of Palmer Road around 7 a.m. Tuesday. When they arrived they found Davis on the ground in the parking lot dead from gunshot wounds. Her daughter, 2-year-old Chloe, had also been shot and was still strapped into her car seat. Chloe was rushed to a nearby hospital where she later died.
The brutality of the killings struck a nerve with investigators who held a news conference shortly after the shootings and pledged to track down the person responsible.
"This is absolutely unacceptable, in any civilized community, that a child should be killed in this way," said Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.
Family members said Davis and her daughter lived in a townhouse with her uncle and aunt who had already left for work. Other younger family members still inside the house heard the commotion and rushed outside.
"It's devastating to see somebody would do something like that to anybody - not just them but anybody," said Bishop Robert Pitts of the Community Temple Bibleway Church in Cheverly. "It doesn't make sense."
Pitts said Davis was a member of his congregation and described her as a hardworking mother who took care of her family.
Family members told FOX 5 that Davis was preparing to drop her daughter off at daycare and then head to work.