A D.C. police officer will be held without bond on charges that he killed his infant daughter and the girl’s young mother, a judge ruled Monday, a day that would have been the girl’s first birthday. Prince George’s County police found victim Wynetta Wright, 20, of District Heights and her daughter Jaylin dead on Thursday.
Police then arrested Raymond Phillips, 39, of Temple Hills, who last met Wright the night before the two were scheduled to appear in court for a paternity hearing on May 31, according to charging documents. He has been charged with first-degree murder for Wright’s death and manslaughter for the death of his daughter Jaylin.
More charges may be filed in the infant’s death after autopsy results are returned, said a police spokeswoman.
Shown via video feed from jail, Phillips’ brief court date quickly turned hostile after the judge allowed visibly upset family members to make statements. Family members of victims Wynetta and Jaylin Wright angrily called Phillips “a monster” and asked that jail guards keep an eye on him “so we can have our justice.”
“You were sworn to protect and serve,” yelled Wyvette Wright, the mother and grandmother of the victims. She reported them missing to Baltimore County Police on May 31.
Wright was shot once in the head and left about 100 feet from a picnic table where she and Phillips, who is married, had a seven-hour conversation at Oxon Run Stream Valley Park, charging documents said. The two had quarreled over the upcoming paternity case, a law enforcement source said.
Video footage of the park showed Wright’s car was then moved to a street near the Hillcrest Community Center, with Jaylin inside. Police said there were no obvious signs of foul play and that she possibly died from severe heat inside the car on a day when temperatures reached the high 90s.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks called the deaths “devastating for the community and family.”
“We haven’t seen a case like this in a while and we hope it doesn’t happen again anytime soon,” Alsobrooks said.
Phillips last met Wright on his way home from work as a D.C. police officer, according to court documents. Alsobrooks would not say whether the gun used to shoot Wright was Phillips’ department-issued Glock 9 mm handgun.
Phillips has been an officer with the department since 2003, assigned to the 1st District. His police powers have been revoked, according to police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump.
