The father of the three Burtonsville children who were the subject of a New Year’s Day Amber Alert has been charged with killing the youngsters’ mother in Montgomery County’s first documented homicide of 2007, according to law enforcement.
Montgomery County police arrested Kelechi Charles Emeruwa following a brief chase Monday night.
The 41-year-old man was being held without bond Tuesday at the Montgomery County Detention Center on charges of first-degree murder.
His capture came less than a day after his estranged wife, Chidiebere Omenihu Ochulo, was found dead inside the family’s home on the 4200 block of Dunwood Terrace in Burtonsville.
According to police spokesman Lt. Eric Burnett, the couple’s three children — 8-year-old Jachi, 6-year-old Antinnoe and 4-year-old Elijah — were unaccounted for at the time their mother’s body was discovered at about 2:30 a.m. Monday, which is why the Amber Alert was issued.
Officers throughout the D.C. region scoured the area on New Year’s Day. Just after 6 p.m., Burnett said, a resident saw a blue Honda Civic driving erratically in the area of Georgia Avenue and Prince Phillips Drive in Wheaton and contacted police.
The driver turned out to be Emeruwa.
Burnett said Montgomery County officers tried to pull Emeruwa over on Georgia Avenue but he kept going, and a pursuit began. The Civic rammed into several police cars and finally came to rest after striking a police car at the dead end of Viburnum Way.
The three children were found in the vehicle unharmed and are now in the care of Child Protective Services until they can be placed with family members, officials said.
An autopsy will be performed on Ochulo to determine her precise cause of death, Burnett said.
