Do you know who murdered 14 year old Sterling Emmanuel Settle in 1995? In the fall of 1995, the quiet community of Oxon Hill, Maryland, was shaken by the tragic death of 14-year-old Sterling Emmanuel Settle. A freshman at Oxon Hill High School, Sterling was last seen near his home on the afternoon of October 9, 1995. Four days later, on October 13, his body was discovered on a remote logging road off Covington Road in Brandywine, a town roughly 15 miles south of his home.
The discovery was made at approximately 4 p.m., prompting a response from the Charles County Sheriff's Office.
Upon their arrival, officers found Sterling with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body. His death was quickly ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner, launching a decades-long investigation into the senseless killing of a young boy with his whole life ahead of him. The location where his body was found, a secluded and wooded area, suggested to investigators that the perpetrators had attempted to conceal their crime. Detectives from the Charles County Sheriff's Office began the arduous task of piecing together the events that led to Sterling's untimely death, canvassing his neighborhood, interviewing classmates, and reviewing school records in the hopes of uncovering a lead.
Despite their exhaustive efforts, the initial investigation grew cold. No suspects were ever publicly identified, and no arrests have been made in the nearly three decades since Sterling's murder. The case has left a lasting scar on the community and an unfillable void in the hearts of his family, who continue to await justice. The Charles County Sheriff's Office has periodically renewed its public appeals for information, classifying Sterling's death as a cold case but never abandoning the hope of solving it. Rewards have been offered for any information that could lead to an arrest and indictment, a standing plea to anyone who may hold the missing piece to this long-standing and heartbreaking puzzle.
