It’s been agonizing for the past three decades for the family of Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Denna Fredericka Campbell.
On Sept. 16, 1995, Montgomery Police Department officers responded to her Maryland apartment at 1536 Heather Hollow Circle, in Silver Spring, after her live-in boyfriend at the time, Amir Jalil Ali, who was also known as Kenneth Burnell Wonsom, called 911 about his unresponsive girlfriend.
Upon arrival, officers found the body of 24-year-old Campbell with several gunshot wounds. Ali, who changed his name 4 years ago, told investigators at the time that he had gone to the store around 3 am and returned to find the residence burglarized and Campbell deceased.
Authorities searched the home and never found the victim’s department-issued weapon. Instead, they discovered Ali had scratches on his back and a big tear in his T-shirt. In addition, there were defensive wounds on Campbell’s hands, which showed she fought the killer, and the defendant bled after the altercation, linking Ali’s DNA to the scene.
Though the defendant was arrested for murder at the time, Ali was released two months later after the prosecutor dropped the case. The current Montgomery County State's Attorney, John McCarthy, claims not to know the reason behind his predecessor dropping the case.
"I was not privy to, nor do I know, what the conversation was regarding why the charges were dropped at that point in time," said McCarthy reported CBS News.
Campbell’s colleagues also told investigators the victim had told them she was scared of her boyfriend and slept with her department-issued handgun under her pillow. The victim also told another colleague that if she never showed up at work, it would be because Ali had killed her and buried her body. Campbell
Ali, now 62 years old and a resident of Laurel, Maryland, was arrested and charged with murder.
“Denna’s never left the hearts and minds of our agency, and several detectives who were very close with her, best friends with her, have always championed and believed that at some point in time this case would close. You never get over the loss of one of your own, ever. It’s something that stays with you, even long past after you retire,” said Washington, D.C Executive Assistant Chief Andre Wright, reported WTOP News.
Campbell was a four-year veteran of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police at the time of her demise.
Leave a Reply