In the winter of 1986, the discovery of a young woman's body in a wooded area of Suitland, Maryland, marked the beginning of a series of terrifying events that would grip the Washington, D.C. suburb. The victim was identified as 20-year-old Dorothy Ann Miller, a Black female of slender build and short stature. Her body was found on December 13, 1986.
An autopsy would later reveal that she had been brutally raped before her death, though the official cause was determined to be a drug overdose.
As investigators delved into Miller's case, a grim pattern began to emerge. In the weeks that followed, the bodies of other young, Black women were discovered in similar circumstances in the Suitland area, all having been sexually assaulted and stabbed. This led law enforcement to the horrifying conclusion that a serial killer was at large. Despite her body being the first one found, the state of decomposition of the other victims led police to believe that Dorothy Ann Miller was likely the fourth victim in the string of murders that occurred between October 1986 and January 1987.
The investigation into the 'Suitland murders' eventually led police to a Washington, D.C. resident named Alton Alonso Best. Best was arrested for the murder of another woman, a crime that was not officially linked to the Suitland killings. In a plea deal, he confessed to the murder of Janice Morton and admitted to targeting and offering drugs to marginalized young Black women in exchange for sexual favors. While he was never charged with the murders of Dorothy Ann Miller or the other victims in the Suitland series, the killings ceased following his arrest. He was sentenced in August 1987 for the murder of Morton. Although no definitive evidence has connected him to the other homicides, Alton Alonso Best remains the primary suspect in the Suitland murders.
