THE GAZETTE
Page A-6
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 z
Man indicted in slaying ‘Demon Assassins’ indicted in exorcism killings of 7-Eleven employee n
Prosecutor: Abdul Ghaffar was stabbed more than 70 times at Gaithersburg convenience store
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BY
TIFFANY ARNOLD STAFF WRITER
Shaun D. King, the man charged in the gruesome killing of a 7-Eleven clerk in Gaithersburg, was indicted Thursday on first-degree murder, the Montgomery County state’s attorney’s office announced. The case will proceed in Montgomery County Circuit Court. King, 36, was arrested Jan. 23 outside the 7-Eleven convenience store at 9051 Snouffer School Road. Police found him standing outside the store with blood on his clothes. King took off running after he was handcuffed, police alleged in arrest records filed in Montgomery County District Court. Meanwhile, store clerk Abdul Ghaffar, 63, of Gaithersburg lay dying in a pool of blood near the coffee bar. Surveillance footage shows King am-
bushing the clerk from behind, then standing over his body for several minutes after stabbing Ghaffar in the neck, face and wrists, police alleged. Another clerk in the store pushed a panic button and then called 911. Ghaffar later died at the hospital, leaving behind a wife and seven children. Medical tests determined he was stabbed more than 70 times, Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Hill said during a bail hearing in January. The men did not know each other. Prosecutors said King suffers from schizophrenia. A judge granted a request that King — who was on suicide watch at the time of his bail hearing — be evaluated to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. The findings of the psychological evaluation were unknown as of noon Monday. An attorney was not listed for King in court records accessed online. A scheduling hearing was set for Friday in Circuit Court. tarnold@gazette.net
Charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison BY
TIFFANY ARNOLD STAFF WRITER
Two Germantown women who called themselves “Demon Assassins” will face murder charges after a botched exorcism in January left two toddlers dead. A grand jury on Thursday indicted Zakieya Avery, 28, and her roommate Monifa Sanford, 21, on two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office spokesman Ramon Korionoff said in an email. The state’s attorney’s office declined to comment further on the case. Attorneys for Sanford and Avery could not be reached for comment Thursday. On Jan. 17, police responding to a 911 call found Avery’s children, Norell Harris, 1, and Zyana Harris, 2, stabbed to death in the master bedroom of her Germantown townhouse. Avery’s two other children suffered serious stab wounds but survived. One of them
described to police seeing his younger brother being killed. The Gazette is withholding the names of the surviving children because they are minors. The women said they belonged to a group called the “Demon Assassins.” Avery was the commander and Sanford was the sergeant. They claimed they had performed exorcisms in the past. There were two other members of the group, but Avery police said they weren’t involved in the slayings. Avery and Sanford told police they were trying to “free” the children of a demon, which “jumped” from child to child and turned their eyes black, the women Sanford claimed. They told police they resorted to stabbing after other methods failed to expel the malignant spirit. Sanford suffered minor stab
wounds in the ordeal. Days after their arrest in late January, a judge granted Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy’s request that the women immediately undergo psychiatric testing at a maximum security hospital to determine whether they were competent to stand trial. McCarthy said the request was based on the things the women were saying to investigators, police observations and Avery’s psychological history, which included an involuntary evaluation. Under Maryland law, incompetency to stand trial means a person is unable to understand the nature of the court proceeding and is unable to assist in his or her defense. A psychologist or licensed psychologist makes the assessment. Proceedings stop until the defendant is found competent, according to Maryland code. It was unclear Thursday whether the women were deemed competent to stand trial. Competency to stand trial is not the same thing as a plea of insanity. The issue of whether the women were criminally responsible — Maryland’s version of the insanity plea — could still be raised.
Despite answers from WSSC, questions remain about high water bills n
Councilman not satisfied with utility’s response BY
TERRI HOGAN STAFF WRITER
The flow of calls and emails to Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and elected officials has slowed over the past week, but questions remain about abnormally high water bills for customers throughout the county. Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda is the chairman of the Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee. He said his office has received “dozens and dozens” of complaints from residents. “Many residents report that the bill they received is nearly double, or in some cases, eight to ten times the
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amount of their typical bill,” Berliner wrote in his newsletter. “They are clearly angry and frustrated and I don’t blame them.” On March 11, Berliner sent a letter to the general manager of WSSC, asking to examine the causes for the high water bills. WSSC officials have said that difficulty reading meters, because of the snow, has led to a longer billing cycle. They also have said that usage could be up due to school and business closings, which meant more people at home, likely increasing water consumption. On Tuesday, Berliner said he is not satisfied with WSSC’s explanation to customers. “We are at an impasse,” he said. “I believe something else is wrong, and the agency feels its bills are correct. I hope the county’s Office of Consumer
Affairs gets involved, on behalf of the ratepayers.” “I have a hard time believing that people getting bills eight times the normal amount is a function of the snow, staying home more, or a leak,” he added. “I’ve had people tell me that they had a plumber out, and found no leak.” Berliner said he has heard from former WSSC employees telling him he was “right on the mark” — something else is going on in regard to billing. “Human error does happen, even with utilities,” he said. When asked if there was a timetable for expecting a response from WSSC to his letter, Berliner replied, “This is not a long-term study. These are people on fixed incomes whose bills have gone from $200 to $800, and in situations like this, you need to attend to people’s needs in the moment.”
On March 13, WSSC announced it was taking additional steps to address customer billing concerns. “In response to a longer billing cycle and higher than usual bills for some customers, WSSC is making immediate operational changes including increased meter readings and payment options for customers,” WSSC spokeswoman Lyn Riggins said in a news release. The release stated that WSSC is reading meters seven days a week, including evenings; extending the bill payment deadline for customers who make the request and demonstrate a need; and providing billing arrangements for those with bills higher than normal. WSSC Public Affairs Manager Jerry Irvine said the utility is still getting calls about high bills, but the volume dropped off this week.
“That could be due to the media coverage or a bill insert that we started sending out last week,” he said. “I think that is helpful to a lot of folks.” Irvine said there is nothing inherently flawed with the billing system, and its business as usual at WSSC, other than the issue of being behind on the meter readings. He said WSSC expects to be caught up in reading meters by early April. The next billing cycle will be shorter, resulting in lower bills, he said. WSSC is encouraging customers to look at their billing cycle and the number of days being billed. Extremely high consumption could be the result of a leak. WSSC recommends checking toilets for leaks twice a year. Directions for a dye test are at www.wsscwater.com/ home/jsp/content/leakinfo.faces. thogan@gazette.net