A man has been charged in the shooting death of his “estranged wife” Saturday night in the parking lot of a Frederick County grocery store, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office said.
Officers responded around 11 p.m. to a Giant grocery store in an Urbana shopping center on Sugarloaf Parkway. When they arrived, they found a woman dead on the scene.
The woman was later identified as 33-year-old Tenisha Butler. She was an employee at the Giant Food store, according to News4.
Deputies arrested 33-year-old Frederick Owusu Sakyi without incident in Columbia. He’s charged with first-degree murder and related firearms offenses, according to online court records.
Sakyi did not have an attorney listed online.
He’s being held at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center, and he has a bond review scheduled for Tuesday, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said.
Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said the killing was “horrendous,” especially since it happened in an open shopping center.
“We are very fortunate there was no other injury or death. These domestic related crimes of violence are very unpredictable,” Jenkins said in a statement. “Our investigators moved quickly to secure the murder scene, identify and collect evidence, and apprehended the defendant within just a few hours.”
During a check of Sakyi’s vehicle, a handgun was found on the front seat and a rifle on the back seat, the sheriff’s office said.
The initial investigation found that Sakyi was the estranged husband of the victim and that they are currently going through a divorce. Additionally, there is a history of protective orders and stalking by Sakyi.
“It’s painful anytime a life is lost prematurely. Domestic violence affects everyone in our community, regardless of age, race, or economic status,” Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said in a statement.
She encouraged Frederick County residents experiencing domestic violence to contact a 24-hour hotline operated by Heartly House, a local nonprofit that provides free services to survivors of domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, child abuse and human trafficking. The hotline number is 301-662-8800.
WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct where Frederick Owusu Sakyi was arrested.
