Pr. George's police investigate spate of killings over weekend

Three people were killed in separate incidents over the weekend in Prince George's County, marking an unusually violent stretch in what has been a quiet year so far for homicide detectives.

The three killings, all unrelated, bring the number of criminal homicides for the year in Prince George's to 18, compared with 28 at the same time last year. In 2009, county police marked the lowest homicide total in nine years and the lowest crime rate since at least 1975.

Those figures do not include police-involved killings and other homicides that investigators determined to be justified.

The most recent killing occurred just after 2 a.m. Sunday in the Temple Hills area, when police were called to the scene of a shooting in the 3400 block of Dallas Drive. They arrived to find two men with gunshot wounds. One victim, Lorenzo Steven Smith Jr., 35, of Capitol Heights, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The other, age 33, is expected to survive. Police are seeking suspects in the incident.

Just before 8 p.m. Saturday in the Hyattsville area, police were called to 23rd Avenue at University Boulevard, where they found the body of a man who appeared to be homeless, authorities said. The case is being investigated as a homicide, police said, but no further details were available.

Minutes later, officers were called to a boarding house in the 1300 block of Eastwood Drive, Forestville, authorities said. Officers found Henry Geovanny Sanchez-Alvarenga, 22, suffering from wounds to his body. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the incident appeared to stem from a dispute between Sanchez-Alvarenga and an acquaintance, but they are still searching for a suspect.