Crime & Safety
Laurel Man Arrested In 1995 Death Of DC Cop From Montgomery County
The D.C. Metropolitan Police officer was fatally shot five times in her Montgomery County apartment. An arrest has been made after 30 years.
WHITE OAK, MD — A Laurel man has been arrested and charged nearly 30 years after a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer was found shot to death in the Montgomery County apartment they shared.
Amir Jalil Ali, 62, was arrested on Tuesday by Montgomery County Task Force Officers assigned to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Laurel, police announced. He is charged in connection with the 1995 death of 24-year-old Denna Fredericka Campbell.
Montgomery County detectives spent years investigating the case after Campbell was found dead at her home in the 1500 block of Heather Hollow Circle on Sept. 16, 1995. Campbell had been shot five times, police said.
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When she was killed, Campbell was a four-year veteran of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, assigned to the 7th District. According to police, Campbell’s department-issued gun was missing from the apartment and has not yet been located.
According to police, Ali, who went by the name Kenneth Burnell Wonsom in 1995, said he left the apartment after 3 a.m. to go to the store and returned to find Campbell unresponsive. He called 911 shortly after 5 a.m. and told police a burglary had occurred and his girlfriend had been shot, authorities said.
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Wonsom was initially charged in the case in 1995, but the charges were dropped two months later.
He legally changed his name to Amir Jalil Ali in 2021.
According to police, detectives re-examined evidence as the investigation continued and reviewed details from the original case files. A warrant for Ali’s arrest was issued on Sunday.
“Our detectives showed true grit and determination, never giving up as they continued to re-examine evidence and follow leads as they emerged,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada said. “This arrest represents significant progress in a long-standing investigation, and we hope that it brings some measure of closure to Officer Campbell’s family, friends and fellow officers who have waited three decades for justice.”
Ali is currently being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit pending a bond hearing.
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