An 18-year-old D.C. man arrested after Metropolitan Police officers caught him in a Jeep belonging to a slain American University professor will be extradited to Montgomery County to face charges there.
Deandrew Hamlin waived an extradition hearing in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday. An order signed by Judge Lee Satterfield gives Montgomery County authorities three business days to pick him up.
Lucille Baur, a Montgomery County police spokeswoman, said she had no information on when detectives would retrieve Mr. Hamlin. So far, no charges have been filed against him in Montgomery County.
Newly filed court papers in support of the extradition request say Mr. Hamlin is wanted in Montgomery County for the “unlawful taking of a vehicle” from the home of Sue Ann Marcum, 52, the American University professor found dead in her Montgomery County home in what police are treating as a homicide in connection with a burglary.
“Investigators believe the keys to the vehicle were taken from inside the residence,” according to a Montgomery County police affidavit attached to a requisition request signed by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Mr. Hamlin was arrested just after midnight on Oct. 26, when police located the stolen 1999 Jeep Cherokee near New York Avenue and Third Street in Northwest Washington. Mr. Hamlin, who was alone in the Jeep, led police on a brief chase before crashing the vehicle. He fled on foot but later admitted during an interview with police that he was the driver of the Jeep.
Mr. Hamlin was charged in the District with driving a stolen vehicle, but prosecutors dropped those charges Nov. 16 in a move thought to have been made in order to facilitate his transfer to Montgomery County.
Metropolitan Police said in court papers that the Jeep Mr. Hamlin was driving belonged to Marcum and was taken one day before Mr. Hamlin’s arrest. Marcum had taught at American University’s Kogod School of Business since 1999 and directed the master’s degree accounting program. Prior to that, she was the tax director for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Officers responded at 10:52 a.m. Oct. 25 after a friend found Marcum’s body on the lower level of her home in the 6200 block of Massachusetts Avenue in Glen Echo. Police said they found signs of a break-in and struggle at the house.
The court papers filed Wednesday list the cause of her death as “asphyxia and blunt-force trauma.”
The Washington Times reported last month that Mr. Hamlin, who turned 18 on Oct. 6, had a juvenile record that included car theft and destruction of property and was under the supervision of the city’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS).
In the past year, DYRS has been plagued by a pattern of crimes committed by and against youths under the agency’s supervision. In addition, some of its wards have been involved in an alarming number of homicides in the past year.
Mr. Hamlin, who appeared in an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles, did not speak during the brief court appearance, and his attorney declined to comment on his case.
AU Associate Dean Lawrence Ward has described Marcum as an exceptional teacher with deep ties to the business and accounting world.
“She was the professor business and accounting students couldn’t wait to introduce to their parents and the professor they wanted to write their recommendations,” he said. “Her reach went beyond that of a faculty member. She was well known among public accounting firms and in professional associations. She was well thought of and well loved.”
• Jeffrey Anderson can be reached at jmanderson@washingtontimes.com.
• Matthew Cella can be reached at mcella@washingtontimes.com.
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