Two arrests made in January killing of College Park student
Men allegedly were masked intruder, getaway driver in the attack, sources say
Police are expected to release the men's names and confirm the charges filed against them today.
Justin DeSha-Overcash was killed inside his College Park group house when a masked man entered the home during an attempted armed robbery, asked for him by name and shot him during a struggle, police said.
After the shooting, investigators found large amounts of marijuana, a scale and drug-packaging material inside the 38th Avenue home, where DeSha-Overcash lived with several roommates, and police believe the cache of drugs played a role in the reason his home was targeted.
Police also disclosed that during the struggle, DeSha-Overcash hit the masked man in the face with a glass jar, which sources close to the investigation say contained marijuana.
Police allege one of the men, arrested Wednesday in Washington, D.C., was the masked man who entered the home, and the other man arrested acted as the getaway driver, said sources close to the investigation. The second man was arrested over the weekend in Bowie, sources said.
Friends and family of DeSha-Overcash were shocked by the police department's assertion that the senior astronomy and physics major was the target of a drug killing. At the time of the homicide, DeSha-Overcash's mother, Karen DeSha, protested outside of county police headquarters, waiting for a chance to meet with top brass to discuss the accusations and ask for a retraction, which police declined to give.
After DeSha received news Thursday of the arrests, she said police told her the two men arrested were strangers to her son.
"It was no one he was familiar with. It was basically a robbery gone awry," Karen DeSha said.
"It's been very emotional, but the detectives at the PG county police department have been very respectful of me," she said. "I cannot tell you how much I appreciate every effort they made ... I didn't think we would ever find this person."
anoble@gazette.net
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