Four men were fatally shot in Prince George’s County in the first four days of the New Year, three in a single incident, after a year of decline in homicides. Another man was killed in Montgomery County since the start of the year, according to police there.
The five shooting deaths appear to be the first killings reported in the Washington metropolitan area this year. In addition, two homicides were reported in the region on the last day of 2025. One was in the District, where homicides also declined substantially last year. The second was in Howard County, Maryland, where police said a woman was fatally stabbed. They said Sunday that a suspect had apparently gone to India.
In the triple homicide, Prince George’s police said a shooting was reported early Saturday in the 4300 block of St. Barnabas Road, in a parking lot of a banquet hall. Officers arrived about 2:10 a.m. and found three men who all died at the scene. No further information was provided over the weekend.
In the fourth fatal shooting in the county, police said they discovered the victim in a vehicle in the 300 block of Watkins Park Drive about 7:20 a.m. Sunday with what appeared to be at least one gunshot wound. He died at the scene. Police said they were investigating, but no additional information was provided.
In the closing days of last year, Prince George’s police said homicides had declined by more than 30 percent compared with the previous year.
However, homicide trends over short periods do not necessarily reflect longer trends. Six killings were reported in December, a pace slightly higher than that observed over the entire year.
In one of the first five fatal shootings in the Washington area this year, Montgomery County police reported on Sunday that Taeyon Malachi Prather, 18, of Gaithersburg was found fatally shot Friday night in the 23600 block of Rolling Fork Way in Gaithersburg.
In Howard County, police said Sunday that Nikitha Godishala, 27, of Ellicott City was found fatally stabbed in Columbia. A suspect has been charged in a warrant, but he is apparently in India, police said.
Police said they think Godishala was killed on Wednesday, the last day of 2025. On Friday, Arjun Sharma, 26, of Columbia, who said she was his ex-girlfriend, reported her missing, they said. On the same day, they said, he left the country on a flight to India. They said they found her body Saturday in his apartment on Twin Rivers Road.
Police said they have obtained a warrant for his arrest on charges of first- and second-degree murder. They said they are working with federal law enforcement authorities to find him.
In the District on Wednesday, Darnell Bassett, 31, of Northeast was found fatally shot in the 200 block of 37th Street SE, police said.
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