Silver Spring Man Faces Life In Prison For Firebombing Apartment

SILVER SPRING, MD — A federal jury found a Silver Spring man guilty of throwing Molotov cocktails at his ex-girlfriend's Gaithersburg apartment in April 2017.

Darius Eric Wilder, 41, faces at least 30 years and up to life in prison at a sentencing scheduled for December.

According to the information presented at Wilder’s four-day trial, firefighters responded to a fire on the balcony of an apartment in Gaithersburg on April 15, 2017.

"Investigators from the Montgomery County Office of Fire and Explosives Investigation conducted an investigation and located two incendiary bombs, commonly known as Molotov cocktails," a statement from the Department of Justice said. "One of the Molotov cocktails was on the balcony of the apartment, and damaged the wooden decking and children’s bikes. The second Molotov cocktail was on the ground below."

Police sent the evidence to the ATF Forensic Science Laboratory, which confirmed the presence of gasoline. Authorities also conducted a DNA analysis and found that Wilder was a possible contributor to the DNA profile found on one of the Molotov cocktails.

Prosecutors said the woman who lived in the apartment had recently attempted to end a relationship with Wilder, who continued to contact her.

Evidence showed that on the night of the fire, Wilder had texted and called the woman repeatedly, with the last text occurring at 9:13 p.m. Cell location data established that Wilder’s cell phone was located in the area of the apartment complex at around the time of the fire. Firefighters were called to the apartment at 9:22 p.m.

Witnesses testified that on April 18, 2017, law enforcement attempted to stop Wilder’s vehicle, but Wilder rammed a police vehicle and ran away. Montgomery County Police officers pursued and arrested Wilder.

Wilder had a previous felony conviction and was prohibited from possessing destructive devices, prosecutors said.

He faces a maximum of 10 in prison for being a felon in possession of a destructive device; a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for arson affecting interstate commerce; and a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of life in prison for use and carry of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence and possession of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence.

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