Detectives Arrest Suspect in Murder of Zoe Spears

Gerardo Thomas

Prince George’s County Police Homicide Unit detectives identified and arrested the suspect who shot and killed Zoe Spears in June. The suspect is 33-year-old Gerardo Thomas of the 1900 block of W. Lexington Street in Baltimore.

On June 13^th, at approximately 11:55 pm, officers with the Fairmount Heights Police Department responded to the 600 block of 59^th Avenue for the report of an unresponsive female on a sidewalk. Spears was suffering from a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead on the scene.

While conducting a crime scene canvass in the hours after the murder, detectives recovered surveillance video that captured the actual murder and the suspect’s van.

Chief Stawinski is in Omaha, Nebraska today receiving an award on behalf of our Police Department’s Special Operations Division, Aviation Section, but could not overstate the value of the commitment of the Criminal Investigations Division as demonstrated by the tremendous investigative effort poured into this case. He said, “This arrest demonstrates our commitment to our community and to the dignity of every single human being. Your detectives used every resource at their disposal to the fullest extent, but ultimately it was grit and determination that led to the identification of the individual responsible for callously taking Zoe’s life.  Homicide Unit detectives worked around the clock on this case throughout the past five weeks, initially with nothing more to go on than a grainy surveillance image of the killer’s van.  Your detectives, led by Major Reilly, were unfazed by the scope of investigation or the tens of thousands of images that they would review in order to identify the killer and obtain justice for Zoe. I am proud of them, and I know that our community is as well.”

 The motive for this murder remains under investigation.

If anyone recognizes Thomas or saw this van in the area around the time of Zoe’s murder, we are asking you to please call our Homicide Unit.  

The Prince George’s County Police Department extends its most sincere thanks to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI for its technical and investigative assistance in this case.  In addition, we’d like to thank the Metropolitan Police Department, Baltimore Police Department, DC Department of Motor Vehicles, MD MVA Investigations Division, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center.

Please call our detectives at 301-772-4925 with any information relevant to this case.Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), or go online at www.pgcrimesolvers.com, or use the “P3 Tips” mobile app (search “P3 Tips” in the Apple Store or Google Play to download the app onto your mobile device.) Please refer to case 19-0034889.