Nearly three decades after the 1998 rape and murder of 50-year-old nurse, Sherry Crandell, the Prince George’s County Police Department announced the case has been solved. Crandell was found tied up, raped, and strangled in her office at the former Prince George’s County Medical Center in Cheverly, Maryland. Despite an extensive investigation, no arrests were made at the time. In December 2021, investigators revisited preserved DNA evidence and obtained a warrant to analyze it using Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG). With assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Baltimore Investigative Genetic Genealogy Team, police identified Edward Watts, also known as Baari Shabazz, as the suspect in late 2025. Watts died in 2019, so no charges can be filed. The investigation was supported by Bureau of Justice Assistance Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA (COLD) Program grants awarded to the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Prince George’s County Police Department to expand FGG testing in cold cases.
