A 49-year-old Oxon Hill man was charged Tuesday in the shooting death of an Alexandria activist who was found stuffed in a 23-foot-deep well, and police say there are more arrests to come in the case.
Prince George’s County police charged Linwood Johnson with first-degree murder in the killing of Lenwood “Lenny” Harris, whose disappearance four months ago was a mystery.
Recommended Stories
Police say the motive for the killing was robbery and that they have obtained a full confession from Johnson, according to Assistant Police Chief Kevin Davis.
Investigators have recovered the murder weapon, and more arrests are expected, Davis said.
The defendant and the victim knew each other, but Davis said he could not elaborate on their relationship because the case is ongoing. Harris was shot and killed in Fort Washington on Old Fort Road, the same street where the community activist’s remains were recovered, Davis said.
Police would not say whether Johnson was the same man seen in a bank photograph of someone using the ATM card of 53-year-old Harris hours after he was last seen.
The arrest comes a day after police announced that an autopsy showed that Harris had been fatally shot before he was dumped into the well of an abandoned home on the 11901 block of Old Fort Road. Police were alerted to the location of the body by an anonymous caller Thursday night, and it took nearly three days to recover the remains.
<br/><small><a href=”http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=11901+Old+Fort+Road+Fort+Washington,+MD&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=29.634084,86.572266&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=11901+Old+Fort+Rd,+Fort+Washington,+Maryland+20744&t=m&ll=38.726501,-76.981716&spn=0.013392,0.01708&z=14&iwloc=A” style=”color:#0000FF;text-align:left”>View Larger Map</a></small></div> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Police are still trying to determine the identity of the caller, and a reward of $38,000 is available for information that leads to more arrests, Davis said.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Police said Harris was last seen about 9 p.m. on Sept. 21 at the <a href=”http://alexandriava.gov/RecreationCenters#houston”>Charles Houston Recreation Center in Alexandria</a>, where he was visiting his friend, former lightweight boxing champion Tony Suggs.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Authorities got involved the next day when Harris failed to show up to give a presentation with Suggs at the Alexandria jail. During the missing-person investigation, police found Harris’ cell phone discarded on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Harris’ car abandoned in Prince George’s County.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>Harris, a former businessman and the founder of a nonprofit, was a fighter for the poor. He had his wife had been married for 19 years.</span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy” style=”font-style:italic;”><em><a href=” mailto:[email protected] “>[email protected]</a></em></span></p>
