Prince George’s County police walked from business to business Wednesday afternoon, taping flyers on windows in the Walker Mill Square Shopping Center.
They stopped in a Subway and Papa John’s, among others, and asked workers if they have seen 23-year-old Raheem Hawkins-Boseman. He’s accused of shooting and killing Jessica Somerville, 27, in a nearby parking lot in March.
About eight months after the incident, officers are still searching for any information that may help them arrest Hawkins-Boseman. He may have fled the area, police said. It’s possible he changed his appearance, too.
“We know people return home. People return to what they know. It’s been eight months at this point, maybe he feels safe enough to come back,” Lt. Shane Goudreau said.
Hawkins-Boseman faces a first-degree murder charge, and other related charges, if arrested.
Officers canvassed the Capitol Heights shopping center Wednesday because they said they have intelligence suggesting it’s an area Hawkins-Boseman has been to before.
Just over a mile away, in District Heights, police said Hawkins-Boseman had shot and killed Somerville in a parking lot in the early hours of March 17.
Somerville and her friends had just gotten off work and were getting something to eat, Goudreau said. They were inside a Subway restaurant — as was Hawkins-Boseman.
Hawkins-Boseman “accosted Jessica and her group of friends,” Goudreau said. Then, there was an interaction that prompted Somerville and her friends to leave.
They left and began walking toward their car, when Hawkins-Boseman “followed them outside, went to the car, and it ultimately resulted in 27-year-old Jessica Somerville being shot and killed,” Goudreau said.
The interaction, Goudreau said, “made him upset, and it drove him to do something that’s just unthinkable.”
Somerville, according to Goudreau, was a hardworking employee of the U.S. Postal Service, a mother of a young girl, and was beloved by her family. She hadn’t been in any type of trouble before.
While detectives had previously explored the area they canvassed Wednesday, Goudreau said police wanted to publicly share Hawkins-Boseman’s picture again, to let the community know “that we’re searching for him and we won’t stop searching for him. He should know that we won’t stop. Her family knows that we won’t stop.”
Goudreau said he suspects Hawkins-Boseman is getting help evading law enforcement, “and I want those people to know that if you’re harboring him, if you’re helping him and we find out, you will be prosecuted.”
Police are offering up to a $25,000 reward to anyone who can provide information to help them make an arrest. Tipsters can call Crime Solvers at 866-411-8477 or submitting to the P3 Tips mobile app.
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