PGC Man Arrested 19 Years After Young Mother Was Shot, Apartment Set On Fire

HYATTSVILLE, MD — A 54-year-old Hyattsville man has been charged in connection to a 2005 case where a woman was shot and her body burned.

According to the indictment and related court documents, prosecutors say Michael Wells shot Makia Mosby, 23 with a gun and set her apartment on fire on Nov. 24, 2005. Officials were called to an apartment located in 1200 block of Valley Avenue. When police and Washington, D.C., firefighters arrived at the apartment at around 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 2005, Mosby's body was found with burns and gunshot wounds, officials said. Mosby was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to an article that ran in The Washington Post in 2005, firefighters found a crib inside the home and learned Mosby's 1-year-old child was at a relative's house.

Nineteen years later, Wells was arrested Dec. 12, 2024.

Wells has been charged with first-degree murder while armed, premeditated murder, second-degree murder while armed, arson, tampering with physical evidence and related weapons offenses. If convicted, Wells faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and five years of supervised release.