County Crime Watch: Stripper Fugitive, Trail of Violence, and 11-Year Murder Mystery Solved

Capitol Heights Man’s Trail of Violence

All in one morning, a male suspect trespassed at a daycare, beat a guard with the guard’s own bat, smashed several windows, stole an employee’s keys, fled in the aforementioned employee’s car, assaulted three officers who tried to control him, and then kicked a hole in the wall while at the police station, according to Prince George's County Police.

According to police reports, on Thursday, April 26, 2012, at approximately 10:30 a.m., 26-year old Mickel Tyrone Young entered the “It’s a Family Affair” daycare center, located in the 300 block of Garrett Morgan Boulevard in Landover, where he asked to use the telephone. When the staff refused, Young became violent, according to police. Young, of the 4000 block of Vine Street in Capitol Heights, has since been arrested and charged with first-degree assault, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, malicious destruction of property, and trespassing.

Police say a security guard working at the daycare went to retrieve a baseball bat and confronted Young. Young took the bat from the security guard and began to assault him with it before leaving the daycare, according to police. Young returned to the daycare, retrieved the bat, and began breaking windows, and then he took an employee’s car keys and fled in their vehicle, police state.

District III patrol officers located the stolen vehicle in the area of Barlowe Road and Village Green Drive where they apprehended Young. At the time of the apprehension, Young appeared to be under the influence of a dangerous substance, according to police.

Young was transported to the District III police station where he remained violent, kicking a hole in a wall and assaulting three officers who tried to control him, police state. He was taken to a local hospital for an emergency psychological evaluation.

The security guard, an adult male, was transported to a local hospital where he remains in stable condition, police report. No children witnessed the incident or were harmed.

FBI: Stripper Flees After Murder Plot

A recent TV episode of “America’s Most Wanted," featured a story about Prince George’s County Sheriff's Office detectives following leads and sightings of Heather Jean Johnson, an experienced exotic dancer from Glen Burnie.

Johnson has been a fugitive on the run since posting $300,000 bail after an attempted murder charge in 1999, according to the show. Johnson, a resident of Meridian in Bowie at the time of the crime, has been missing ever since and the FBI needs your tips to spur their investigation, "America's Most Wanted" reports. For the show's full story of her alleged murder plot on her boyfriend and employer, visit "America's Most Wanted."

If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Heather Johnson, call the America’s Most Wanted hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV.

DNA Match Leads to Conviction of Upper Marlboro Man for First-Degree Murder

After 11 years, Billy Joe Simon has been convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Michael Anthony Neal in June 2001, according to a press release from the office of the Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks. Simon’s DNA had been obtained after he was convicted of a crime in Washington, D.C., in 2011, and was matched to the Neal cold case, according to Alsobrooks office.

“Mr. Neal’s family has waited 11 long years for his killer to be brought to justice,” Alsobrooks said. “I am pleased that we have been able to bring a killer to justice and provide continued healing to the Neal family.”

According to the release, on June 10, 2001 around 5 a.m., Neal was shot multiple times and died after two men wearing masks broke into his three-story townhouse. Neal had been lying in bed with his fiance, and their one-month-old son was in a bassinet next to the bed, when Neal was shot and killed. The police say their 12-year old daughter was in her bedroom on the first level when the murder took place and was unharmed. 

The men took a large amount of cash that Neal had hidden in the house and fled. According to the release, police investigations showed that Simon, who was a partner of the victim in the drug trade, was later determined to have left several small blood smears behind on the walls of the stairways in Neal's townhome.

The county police homicide and evidence collection sections spent several days collecting evidence from the home, and DNA evidence was recovered from the home and input into the CODIS database. 

In February 2011, the county police were notified that there was a match made with the DNA evidence profile that had been input into the CODIS system following the murder and Simon's DNA profile that had been input into the system after a recent conviction.

On May 5, 2011, county police charged Simon with the first-degree murder of Neal. After deliberating for 90 minutes, the jury convicted Simon of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, use of a handgun in a crime of violence, robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree burglary, and theft. According to the release, Simon will be sentenced on June 22 and is facing two life sentences plus 60 years in jail.