‘We won't give up'
Their faces never go away.
Prince George's County's top homicide investigator has the four photos tucked in at the top of his leather folder, a reminder at the start of every grueling workday, at the scene of every new murder in the county, that the killer or killers of two Largo mothers and daughters are still out there.
"See this flier?" Lt. William Rayle asked. "I wake up in the morning, and they're in my folder. And I'm not the only one."
On Jan. 26, Karen Lofton and her 16-year-old daughter, Karissa, were shot dead in their two-story Southall Drive home. Seven weeks later, Delores Dewitt and her 19-year-old daughter, Ebony, who lived less than two miles away, were also found dead. Their bodies were discovered in a stolen car set on fire in a nearby driveway.
Six months after the second set of homicides, no one has been arrested or named as a suspect. But to the families of the four women — and to the two detectives, Bernard Nelson and Anthony Schartner, who are working full-time on these homicides — the cases are anything but cold, as leads continue to come in.
The two crimes bore striking similarities — both daughters were teenagers, both homicides were discovered on a Monday morning, and both mothers were single and nurses, as was the owner of the burned car. There were no signs of forced entry to the homes.
Police warned a serial killer could be responsible — they still haven't ruled out the possibility the same killer or killers was responsible for both homicides — and neighbors of the victims say they continue to live in fear.
A task force was created immediately after the Dewitts were found dead March 16. The force continues to meet weekly, and the unit has brought in the FBI, America's Most Wanted and several other law enforcement resources to assist in the investigation.
Nelson, the lead detective on the Lofton case, and Schartner, the lead detective on the Dewitt case, are working side-by-side. They declined to be interviewed about the cases.
"Without a motive, we'll continue to work these cases jointly," Rayle said. "We're keeping everything on the table, not ruling anything out."
‘It was a red flag for me'
According to family members, Karen Lofton, 45, who also used her maiden name, Karen Sherrill, and Karissa Lofton went to church Jan. 25, the morning before their deaths. The two were planning to go to brunch before Karissa had to work that evening, said Karen's sister-in-law, Charlene Weaver, 49, of Fort Washington.
A manager at the restaurant where Karissa Lofton worked, the Golden Corral in Largo, said she reported to work the afternoon before she was killed but he left before her that night. The restaurant closes at 10 p.m. Sundays.
The manager, Landover resident Miles Hampton, 21, said Karissa had started work as a cashier in December, several weeks before her death, and she had received her first paycheck that night.
Karissa mostly worked weekend shifts due to school, he said, with the occasional weekday evening shifts.
"She was not the average 16-year-old," he said. "She was very disciplined, bright and had a future. We never had any problems with her."
Family members said they believe Karen Lofton didn't pick up Karissa that night, which was unusual.
A month or two before her death, Karissa had gotten a ride home from work with a friend, and her mother had told her she was never to do that again, Weaver said.
"It was a red flag for me. Karen picked her up religiously," Weaver said.
Family members and friends have described the Lofton family as close and loving, and said Karen Lofton was a doting and protective mother.
In addition to Karissa, Karen Lofton and her ex-husband, Kirkland Lofton Sr., have sons Kion Lofton, 22, who lived with his mother but wasn't home the morning of the homicides, and Kirkland Lofton Jr., 24, who lives in Washington, D.C.
Karen and Kirkland Lofton Sr., who divorced in 2004, remained on good terms, Weaver said. Weaver said that three days before Karen and Karissa Lofton were killed, Karen Lofton told her she wasn't interested in dating anyone and that she still loved her ex-husband.
Kion Lofton believes his mother and sister knew whoever killed them.
"It has to be," he said. "They weren't the type of people who went around starting trouble, bothering anybody."
‘There is no punishment harsh enough'
Less than five hours after the restaurant closed, a 911 cell phone call from the Loftons' home around 2:45 a.m. captured Karissa Lofton telling a dispatcher that she and her mother had been shot.
Police said they could not divulge the details of the conversation, but her assailant likely was still in the house, as Karissa Lofton spoke softly to the 911 dispatcher.
When police arrived less than five minutes later, they found Karissa with multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body. Both women were pronounced dead at the scene.
Weaver said she believes Karissa ran into her room, locked the door and called 911 to report she had been shot before the killer or killers kicked in the door to shoot her again. She said Karen Lofton sustained more injuries than Karissa.
Karen Lofton didn't let people into her home she didn't know and she always kept her home's security alarm on, Weaver said, leading family to believe Karen knew the killer or killers.
"Karen knew who it was — once she allowed them access to her house, maybe something went wrong," Weaver said.
Weaver said Kion Lofton stayed at his girlfriend's house every other weekend, including the weekend his mother and sister were killed.
"I don't want him feeling like things could have turned out differently if he was home that weekend," Weaver said. "He's thinking that, and we're thinking we might have had to bury three people."
Weaver believes the Dewitt homicides may have been committed by the same killer or killers in an attempt to throw off investigators.
"There's not enough [jail] time if they're guilty — there is no punishment harsh enough," Weaver said. "I want to look in the face of someone who killed Karen and Karissa. I can't even imagine the reason. It's just ridiculous that she should be murdered. I don't understand it."
Tracking the timeline
Seven weeks later, a scene would unfold at the Dewitt home with parallels to the Lofton homicides that police have described as uncanny.
Delores Dewitt, 42, was last seen March 14 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 — would arrive home 15 minutes later.
A rocky mother-daughter relationship stirred Ebony Dewitt to return home early that morning to reconcile with her mother, according to a family member. 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.
Police cannot say whether Delores Dewitt was already dead when Ebony returned home. Rayle declined to say whether either woman called 911.The two women's purses were missing from the home and still have not been found.
Delores Dewitt's then-17-year-old daughter, Courtney Hicks, came home after a weekend away with friends around 10 p.m. March 15, about 21 hours after Ebony Dewitt was last seen alive.
Hicks didn't see anyone in the house but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, and her mother's car was parked in the driveway, said Delores Dewitt's sister, Patricia Smith of Hyattsville.
Hicks left the home and returned hours later, at 2 a.m. March 16, a Monday. She found the lights were still on, as she had left them, and no one home. After finding her mother and sister were still not home, Hicks took her mother's car and went to stay with her grandmother and aunt for the night.
At 3:58 a.m., 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 Dewitt's home.
Meanwhile, at 8 a.m., Hicks and her grandmother, Rosa Smith of Hyattsville, alarmed they still had not heard from Delores Dewitt, went to the Dewitt home. Hicks, who had locked herself out in haste earlier that morning, broke a window to get into the house, tripping the alarm and triggering police.
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.
A critical hour and 40 minutes
Investigators' efforts have zeroed in on tracking the whereabouts of the car used to burn the Dewitt women's bodies.
The car's owner, Sybil Felton, last saw her cream-colored Nissan Maxima at about 2 a.m. March 16, when it was parked at her Woodlawn Boulevard home when she left with her boyfriend.
About an hour and 40 minutes later, the car had been stolen and set on fire in a nearby driveway, with the bodies of Delores and Ebony Dewitt in the trunk and back seat. Felton later realized the car keys had been stolen in late February, when her home was broken into.
Police said recently they believe Delores and Ebony Dewitt were killed inside their home, and that it is possible their bodies were stashed in an unknown vehicle before being transferred to Felton's car.
Patricia Smith said that when she went into the house March 16, she had to kick open Delores Dewitt's bedroom door because it was locked, which was typical, and a small amount of blood spatter was on the outside of the door.
"Whoever did this knew she locked her bedroom door," she said.
Patricia Smith also said bleach had been used to hide blood in Delores and Ebony Dewitt's upstairs bedrooms and the stairwell. She believes the women's bodies were dragged down the stairs to the car.
Rayle confirmed investigators removed carpet from the house. He said the women were not shot, and both were killed in the same manner, although police declined to reveal the cause of death.
Smith suspects it was a woman who orchestrated the killings and that at least two men were involved to carry the bodies.
Delores Dewitt had been divorced from Courtney's father and was separated from her current husband. She had recently begun dating a woman, Patricia Smith said. She said the two had a tumultuous relationship, and Smith believes the woman had threatened Delores.
Rayle said police continue to investigate whether more than one person killed the Dewitts.
‘Every crime is solvable'
Police are pressing neighbors to come forward if they saw the Maxima entering or leaving the neighborhood or could confirm in which direction the car was traveling. Someone may have seen or heard anything — such as a dog barking — that could be related incidentally to the homicides.
"There is absolutely someone who knows something," Rayle said.
In the past six months, police have talked to thousands of people and gone door-to-door in the neighborhood talking to residents.
Rayle said police have collected about 200 pieces of evidence and about 100 DNA swabs. On March 30, members of the police academy class crawled on the ground outside the Dewitts' house looking for clues.
If no suspects have been arrested by the end of the year, police will re-evaluate their strategy, Rayle said.
"This is an extremely difficult case — the totality of everything, the time of day, the manner of death," he said. "We'll continue working until we develop a suspect."
Rayle said the strategy is ever-changing, and police continue to closely examine every minute in detail.
He likened the investigation to a marathon.
"We won't give up — every murder is important and different, every crime is solvable," he said. "The families deserve closure."
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