Prince George’s County arrested a veteran Metropolitan Police Department officer Friday and charged him with the killing of a woman and her 1-year-old child.
Richmond Diallo Binns Phillips, an eight-year veteran of the D.C. police department, is being held in connection with the deaths of 20-year-old Wynetta Wright and her 1-year-old daughter, Jaylin Wright.
Prince George's County police arrested Officer Phillips Friday and charged him with one count of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter. He is currently being held without bond.
The mother and daughter were reported missing May 30 and found dead Thursday near the Hillcrest Heights Community Center, said Lt. Col. Gary Cunningham a deputy commander in the Prince George's County Police Department at a Friday afternoon press conference.
Police say Miss Wright was found lying in Oxon Run Stream Valley Park in the 2300 block of Oxon Run Drive suffering from trauma to the body.
The child was found abandoned in a vehicle in the 2400 block of Southern Avenue. It appeared she had been dead for several days, police said. Without a ruling back from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office on her cause of death, police were hesitant to provide further detail about the condition the child’s body was in when she was found.
Crime scene tape cordoned off entrances to the community center Friday, which remained closed as crime scene investigators continued to comb through the parking lot and surrounding wooded area. An electronic billboard outside the center advertised both upcoming basketball tournaments and a domestic violence seminar for women.
Miss Wright and Officer Phillips were scheduled to have a child support hearing on May 31, according to Prince George’s County Circuit Court records.
“This is a horrific crime, and our deepest sympathies go out to the Wright family,” Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said. “As we have seen all too often, domestic violence has its impact on the most innocent victims.”
Officer Phillips has been employed by the Metropolitan Police Department since 2003 and earned a salary of $64,000, according to city budget documents. He was most recently assigned to the First District but since his arrest his police powers have been revoked, said MPD spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump.
A person who answered the phone at the Phillips’ house Friday hung up before speaking to a reporter.
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