In the summer of 2025, a tragedy unfolded that cut short the life of 29-year-old Sharita Cristwell, a mother of two and a successful makeup artist from Bladensburg, Maryland. On the afternoon of Saturday, July 5th, police were called to an apartment on Stretford Way in Landover, where they discovered Cristwell had been fatally shot. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident, which occurred during a heated argument, set off an immediate search for the suspect, who had fled before authorities arrived.
Investigators quickly identified 32-year-old Harry Lindsey of Landover, Cristwell's long-term boyfriend and the father of her two children, as the primary suspect. With the assistance of surveillance footage provided by the Metro Transit Police Department, members of the Prince George's County Police Department's Fugitive Unit were able to track Lindsey down. He was apprehended the following morning in Capitol Heights and taken into custody without incident.
The investigation into Sharita Cristwell's death revealed a disturbing history of domestic violence that preceded the fatal shooting. Less than a month prior, on June 16th, Lindsey had been arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault for allegedly strangling and beating Cristwell. Despite prosecutors arguing for him to be held without bond due to the severity of the assault, he was released on home monitoring with an ankle bracelet. In the days following this incident, Lindsey reportedly expressed remorse to Cristwell's mother, claiming he loved her daughter and would never harm her again. Tragically, just four days after this conversation, Cristwell was killed. Family members stated that Lindsey was enraged because she had moved on from their 10-year relationship.
Following his arrest for the murder, Harry Lindsey was charged with first- and second-degree murder and is being held at the Department of Corrections without bond. The case has brought renewed attention to the critical need for protections for victims of domestic violence, particularly in cases involving strangulation, which experts note is a significant indicator of future homicide. The community and Cristwell's grieving family are left to mourn the loss of a beloved mother, daughter, and sister, whose life was tragically cut short.
