D.C. cop charged in two deaths in P.G. park

A D.C. police officer charged with murder is due in court Monday in Prince George’s County.

Officer Richmond Diallo Binns Phillips, an eight-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, is being held in the deaths of 20-year-old Wynetta Wright and her 1-year-old daughter, Jaylin Wright.

Prince George's police arrested Officer Phillips on Friday and charged him with one count each of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter. He is being held without bond.

The mother and daughter were reported missing May 30 and found dead three days later near the Hillcrest Heights Community Center, Lt. Col. Gary Cunningham, a deputy commander in the Prince George's County Police Department, said.

Miss Wright and Officer Phillips were scheduled to have a child support hearing May 31, according to county Circuit Court records. However, officials would not say whether the officer was thought to be the father of Jaylin or if the hearing was related to the child.

Police say Miss Wright was found lying in Oxon Run Stream Valley Park, in the 2300 block of Oxon Run Drive, with injuries to her body.

The little girl was found in an abandoned vehicle in the 2400 block of Southern Avenue. It appeared she had been dead for several days, police said. Without a ruling back from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office on her cause of death, police have declined to provide further details about the condition the girl’s body when it was found Thursday.

Crime scene tape cordoned off entrances to the community center Friday, and it remained closed while crime scene investigators combed through the parking lot and surrounding woods. An electronic billboard outside the center advertised upcoming basketball tournaments and a domestic violence seminar for women.

“This is a horrific crime, and our deepest sympathies go out to the Wright family,” Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said. “As we have seen all too often, domestic violence has its impact on the most innocent victims.”

Officer Phillips has been employed by the department since 2003 and earned a salary of $64,000, according to city budget documents. He most recently was assigned to the 1st District but since his arrest his police powers have been revoked, said police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump.

A person who answered the phone at Officer Phillips‘ house Friday hung up before speaking to a reporter.

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