Prince George’s County Police have charged a University Park man with murder in the slaying of a Greenbelt elementary school teacher who was reported missing in July.
Harold Francis Landon III, 33, was formally charged Friday with killing Mariame Sylla, 59, who went missing July 29 while on a walk.
Police said they don’t believe the suspect and the victim knew each other and haven’t determined a motive for the slaying.
Police said a concerned citizen reported finding dismembered human remains Aug. 1 in the 7300 block of Old Alexandria Ferry Road in Clinton. Police Chief Malik Aziz said authorities recently confirmed they were Sylla’s remains.
“The type of violence is depraved,” Chief Aziz said Friday during a press conference. “It’s disturbing.”
Court documents said Sylla’s remains included a decapitated head and amputations of limbs at the knees and the shoulders. A search of Mr. Landon’s home uncovered a reciprocated saw that appeared consistent with Sylla’s decapitation, according to the documents.
A combination of phone records, surveillance footage and witness observations tied Mr. Landon to the site of Sylla’s remains on the night of July 31, a day before they were discovered by the concerned citizen, according to court documents.
A witness took a photo of a man and his truck at the scene that evening. Mr. Landon confirmed to police the photos were of him and his truck, according to documents.
Police said Mr. Landon was booked on an unrelated assault charge the same day Sylla’s remains were discovered.
Sylaa taught third grade at Dora Kennedy French Immersion School in Greenbelt.
“These cases are cases that really do strike at the heart of all of us,” Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said. “To have a beloved member of our community taken away from us in this way, it’s just so devastating.”
