A Landover, Maryland, man charged with murdering his girlfriend earlier this month had previously been arrested and charged for assaulting her, then was released from custody in the weeks before the killing, according to Prince George’s County officials.
Harry Lindsey, 32, is accused of shooting and killing 29-year-old Sharita Cristwell, of Bladensburg, during an argument on Saturday, Prince George’s County police said.
Weeks before the shooting, on June 16, Lindsey had been arrested and charged with first and second-degree assault, County Executive Aisha Braveboy said during a news conference on Tuesday. Braveboy said Lindsey strangled Cristwell during that incident, and prosecutors argued Lindsey should be held without bond.
“Anyone who strangles you intends to kill you. Make no mistake,” Braveboy said. “Strangulation is the type of offense that requires our judicial system to ensure that our victims are protected.”
But Lindsey was released days after his arrest, Braveboy said.
On Saturday afternoon, around 3:30 p.m., police responded to a reported shooting at an apartment in the 700 block of Stretford Way in Landover, where Cristwell was found dead. Lindsey was arrested Sunday morning in Capitol Heights.
Lindsey and Cristwell had two children together, according to Cristwell’s mother, Gereese McCotter.
“This feeling, this pain that I have, it will never go away,” McCotter said. “And my grandkids, they cry every day.”
Braveboy said along with the assault arrest, Lindsey had been previously convicted on weapons charges.
Lindsey is now charged with first and second-degree murder in Cristwell’s killing and is being held without bond.
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