Mistrial declared in P.G. double-murder case

A Prince George's County Circuit Court judge declared a mistrial Monday in the double murder trial of Jason Thomas Scott, who is accused of killing a Largo woman and her daughter.

Judge Michael P. Whalen ruled a mistrial after a detective testifying about the case mentioned Scott’s involvement in multiple home invasions. The judge had previously ruled that only testimony about one home invasion — in which two men broke into a home and stole the gun of the police officer who lived there — was admissible in the case, said John Erzen, spokesman for county prosecutors.

Mention of the home invasion was believed to be a “slip of the tongue” and will not compromise prosecutors’ case, according to State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.

Scott, 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the March 2009 deaths of Delores Dewitt, 42, and her 20-year-old daughter, Ebony, who were found dead inside a burning car not far from their Largo home. Last year, he was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison after he was convicted of 11 felony charges committed during a spree of more than 50 burglaries and nine armed home-invasion robberies.

Scott’s trial got off to a rocky start after prosecutors first witness, the daughter and sister of the two victims, attempted to commit suicide the night before the trial began Feb. 18 and was unable to testify.

A retrial was rescheduled for Oct. 21 with jury selection beginning Oct. 15.

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