On New Year's Day in 2020, Filomena Vasquez, a 56-year-old grandmother, was inside her Hyattsville, Maryland, home when her life was tragically cut short. At approximately 11:30 p.m., multiple gunshots were fired into her residence from the outside, striking and killing her. When patrol officers arrived at the home on Varnum Street, they found Vasquez suffering from several gunshot wounds; she was pronounced dead at the scene.
It was later reported that she had been reading her Bible in her kitchen when the shooting occurred.
The investigation into the seemingly senseless act of violence quickly uncovered a dispute that had begun a week earlier. On Christmas Eve, one of Vasquez’s adult sons, who lived in the same home, sold a used car to a 23-year-old man from Bowie named Sammie Warren. Warren soon became dissatisfied with the vehicle's condition and demanded a refund. When Vasquez's son refused the request, Warren's communications grew increasingly hostile, escalating to threats against the son and his family. These threats tragically materialized on the night of January 1st when Warren went to the Vasquez family home and fired numerous shots into the house, killing Filomena Vasquez before fleeing the scene.
Through their investigation, police identified Sammie Warren as the primary suspect. When officers executed a search warrant at his home, they observed him through a window holding a gun. Upon entering the residence, Warren ignored police commands and resisted arrest. Officers had to tackle him to take him into custody, during which he sustained a minor head injury. A gun was recovered from his home. Warren was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder and other related offenses. He was held without bond.
In May 2023, a Prince George's County jury convicted Sammie Warren, then 26, of second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, and illegal possession of a regulated firearm for the killing of Filomena Vasquez. In August of that year, he was sentenced to 65 years in prison, with all but 50 years suspended.
