Police Charge Man in Jeffers Hill Fire, Death

(Update: Police charge man with killing his ex-wife.)

From HoCo PD:

Howard County police have charged a Columbia man with killing his ex-wife and setting her apartment on fire. Damon Willie White, 34, of 6007 Majors Lane, has been charged in an arrest warrant with murder and arson. He was injured in the incident and is currently being guarded by police at Shock Trauma. He remains in critical but stable condition and will be taken into police custody when doctors clear him for release from the hospital.

Investigators believe the victim, 35-year-old Thelma Wynn, was stabbed to death by White in a domestic assault. Detectives learned White has been temporarily staying in the residence. Police and fire investigators also believe White intentionally set fire to the apartment after stabbing Wynn. Investigators found a knife in the apartment that they are analyzing as the possible murder weapon.

Wynn had four children who lived in the residence. The two girls, ages 17 and 15, and two boys, ages 11 and 6, are in the custody of family members. They were not home at the time of the incident.

Fire and rescue personnel responded to Majors Lane at 2:42 p.m. Sept. 7 for a 911 call from a neighbor reporting a fire. Investigators found White injured and Wynn deceased inside the apartment.

The fire was contained within the apartment where Wynn and White resided. No one else was injured in the incident.

(Original post)

HoCo police suspect something else killed a mother of four in an apartment fire in the 6000 block of Majors Lane shortly after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to this WBAL report. A second person, a man, was found inside critically injured.

Police said they don't believe the fire caused the woman's death. Officials said both victims appeared to have injuries that were unrelated to the fire, but it's too early to tell if it was a domestic incident or if a third party injured the couple.

"We don't think that their injuries or the death of this woman were caused by the fire. It looks like there was another cause which we're still working to determine," said said Sherry Llewellyn of the Howard County Police Department.

The man was taken to Shock Trauma in critical condition.

Both victims appeared to be in their 30s and lived at the apartment, police said. Neither has been identified.

Friends told 11 News that the woman was the mother of two girls and two boys. The children range in age from 6 and 17.

"All of them are very good kids -- well-mannered, well-behaved. I wish I had the space, and I'd take them in myself, because she was an exceptional mom to those kids. To know those kids, their mom is gone now, it's heart-wrenching," said neighbor Maureen Burris.