A year after a mother and daughter were found slain in a car near their Largo home, the women's family members say their grief is still fresh as they wait for a break in the case that could lead to justice.

On March 16, 2009, the bodies of Delores Dewitt, 42, and her 19-year-old daughter, Ebony, were found in a stolen car burning in a nearby driveway. Police said the investigation into the homicides is still active and that a detective is working full time on the case, but so far there have been no arrests or publicly named persons of interest.

Patricia Smith, Delores' sister and Ebony's aunt, said the past year has been difficult.

"We've been trying to continue with going on and living. We're still emotionally a wreck, but we're taking it one day at a time," said Smith, 41, of Hyattsville.

Smith said she is anxiously awaiting the day her sister's and niece's killer is arrested and brought to trial.

"There is no answer that no one has come up with to why [they were killed] — that's why I want to see them," Smith said. "I want to hear them say why they did what they did, not that it's going to make it any better."

Delores Dewitt was last seen March 14, 2009, attending a Saturday night cabaret in Upper Marlboro, more than 24 hours before she was found dead. She returned to her Cedarhollow Lane home around 1:15 a.m. Sunday.

Her eldest daughter, Ebony, who was away for the weekend with friends and not due home until Monday, arrived home approximately 15 minutes later.

Ebony's boyfriend told family members he dropped her off in front of the home and waited for her to get in safely before pulling away.

At 3:58 a.m. March 16, 2009, a neighbor called 911 to report a car on fire in the driveway of a vacant home for sale in the 11100 block of Webbwood Court, less than two miles from the Dewitts' home.

The bodies wouldn't be discovered in the burned car until about 10 a.m., six hours after the car was found on fire and two hours after family members reported the Dewitts missing.

Smith said she believes someone must have some information regarding the night her sister and niece were killed.

"I just really wish someone would come forward and say what they know and help the detectives out so we can go to court and let my sister and niece rest in peace," she said. "Maybe God will work on their soul and they will come out."

The Dewitts were murdered seven weeks after another Largo mother and daughter — Karen Lofton, 45, and Karissa Lofton, 16 — were found shot dead Jan. 26, 2009, in their home on Southall Drive, less than two miles from where the Dewitts' bodies were found.

Like the Dewitts' homicides, the Loftons' case also is active, with a detective assigned to the case full time, said Maj. Andrew Ellis, chief spokesman for the Prince George's County Police Department.

Similarities between the two sets of homicides initially sparked fears of a serial killer in the area, but police now believe it is unlikely the deaths are connected.

"We never ruled out that they could be connected," Ellis said. "The manner of death did not lead us to believe they are connected."

Smith described her sister as her mentor and best friend.

"She was a lot of things to me," she said. "When I couldn't talk to my mom because she's my mom, I could go to [Delores] and she wouldn't judge me. She would just say, ‘This is what you should do,' or give her opinion, whether I did it or not."

Smith said Courtney Hicks, 18, Delores' daughter and Ebony's half-sister, declined to comment but is doing OK.

"She says she has her moments like everyone else and that she really misses her mom and her sister," Smith said."

E-mail Liz Skalski eskalski@gazette.net.