Montgomery County authorities are investigating the killing of a 21-year-old Wheaton woman as a homicide.
The county government later confirmed the death had been ruled a homicide and identified the woman as Dania Mendez de Guerra, 21, of Amherst Avenue in Wheaton.
FOX 5 DC separately reported Monday that Mendez de Guerra's body was found behind a Wheaton shopping center.
Court records show Mendez de Guerra and Elmer Campos-Martinez worked the evening shift at a KFC on University Boulevard on Nov. 5, 2017. She was reported missing the next day; her body was found Nov. 10 behind dumpsters near the restaurant. The medical examiner determined she died from multiple blunt-force injuries and asphyxia. The court record recounts the coworkers’ shift, while the initial medical examiner findings documented the cause of death.
What Investigators Have Confirmed So Far
Montgomery County police have said the case is being investigated as a homicide.
Countywide Homicide Context
According to the Montgomery County Department of Police, the county recorded 34 homicides in 2021, across 33 incidents, compared with 20 homicides in 2020. Those countywide figures offer historical context and do not speak to this case.
Open Questions In The Wheaton Case
The case later went to trial: a jury convicted Campos-Martinez of first-degree murder in October 2018, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Dec. 20, 2018. Maryland’s appellate court later upheld the conviction and sentence, finding no reversible error. The appellate opinion records the verdict, sentence and affirmance.
Mendez de Guerra lived on Amherst Avenue, while her body was found behind a Wheaton shopping center.
Montgomery County police have not detailed what, if any, next steps are planned in the investigation. This is a developing story, and Hoodline will update it as more verified information becomes available.
