SUITLAND, MD – A Maryland man was arrested after his girlfriend was discovered, beaten to death, and concealed in her apartment, generating widespread shock and grief in the local community.
Michael McClanahan, 38, faces charges of first-degree and second-degree murder, along with a charge related to the concealment of a corpse. The Prince George’s County Police Department announced these charges following a grim discovery during a welfare check at the couple’s home on Ewing Avenue, Suitland—a suburb near Washington, D.C.
Police discovered Sherron Turner, 44, deceased inside her residence on April 24. According to the authorities, Turner’s body was wrapped in plastic and partially encased in concrete, indicating an attempt to conceal the crime. The case was promptly handed over to the Homicide Unit for extensive investigation.
Turner’s death was confirmed as a homicide caused by blunt force trauma on April 26, following an autopsy. Assurance of immediate action against McClanahan came as investigators quickly linked him to the crime, leading to an arrest warrant.
Interestingly, McClanahan had already found himself in police custody even before the autopsy findings. On April 25, he was detained on unrelated charges for allegedly stabbing a man during an altercation at a Walmart Supercenter in Washington, D.C. Surveillance footage reportedly captured McClanahan’s actions, which led to his arrest.
Though details on the motive behind Turner’s tragic death remain sparse, authorities have labeled it a “Domestic-Related Murder.” Turner’s family, who regarded her as missing before the discovery, mourn her brutal death. Her funeral is scheduled for early May in Exmore, Virginia.
Currently, McClanahan is held in a Washington, D.C. detention facility, pending extradition back to Maryland. A search of Maryland’s court records reveals no current filing for the murder charges, but McClanahan, identified with a history of legal troubles dating back to 2010, has several prior criminal cases to his name.
The unfolding investigation leaves a community grappling with the unsettling circumstances of Turner’s death as police continue to piece together a clearer motive behind this tragedy.