2 Charged In Edgewood Homicide: Harford County Sheriff

BEL AIR, MD — Two people have been charged in connection with a homicide in Edgewood, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

Ashley Pearl Zentz, 34, of Abingdon, and Armando Moreno, Jr., 50, of Edgewood, were already in custody on unrelated charges, officials said. They were arrested Feb. 23 in connection with a home invasion in Baltimore County, where a victim who survived the encounter told police she feared for her life.

Zentz and Moreno are being held at the Harford County Detention Center without bail and were served Tuesday with arrest warrants charging them in the murder of Gerald Wayne Champ, 71, of Edgewood, according to authorities.

Champ was found dead in his residence in the 2300 block of Perry Avenue on Feb. 18. His death marked the first homicide of the year in Harford County, the sheriff's office told Patch.

Moreno and Zentz knew Champ, according to investigators.

Officials said Champ died from upper body trauma between Feb. 14 and 18, based on his autopsy.

During that time, Moreno and his girlfriend, Zentz, broke into a woman's house in Middle River, according to charging documents in Baltimore County obtained by Patch. The victim told police she awoke to find the couple at the foot of her bed after they got in through a window around 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 16.

The victim had been friends with Moreno for about a year, and she had let him stay with her for two days until Feb. 14, charging documents say, but when she asked him to leave, police said: "He became upset because he is currently homeless." She took him to the Super 8 Motel in Joppa on Feb. 14, according to charging documents. The motel is closed.

Court records show Moreno lived in the 1000 block of Pirates Court in Edgewood, while Zentz resided in the 4000 block of Timothy Drive in Abingdon.

After the couple broke into the Middle River woman's home in the middle of the night on Feb. 16, police said Zentz was holding an ivory-handled knife and ordered the victim to tell Moreno where her money was. They took $1,000, her purse and cell phone before taking the keys to her rental car, an Infiniti QX80 with Texas registration, officials said.

Zentz and Moreno were charged with crimes including armed robbery, burglary, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and other offenses in the Feb. 16 break-in, court records show.

The victim "stated that she felt in fear for her life during the home invasion robbery," according to charging documents.

When investigators in Harford County said Feb. 22 that there had been a homicide in Edgewood, they reported that the victim's faded gray 2003 Ford Explorer was stolen from his home, "possibly by those involved in the homicide."

The vehicle of the Edgewood homicide victim was found in Middle River, where Baltimore County community members helped officials gather evidence linking Zentz and Moreno to it, the Harford County Sheriff's Office reported Tuesday.

Zentz and Moreno are charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and auto theft in the death of Champ.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Golden of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 410-836-5430. In particular, officials are interested in video of the suspects, Champ or his vehicle.

Those who would like to remain anonymous can use the Metro Crime Stoppers Tipline at 1-866-7Lockup to report information.

Related: Man Killed In Edgewood; Stolen SUV Sought: Harford Sheriff