John Frederick Carrington: Accused Serial Killer Linked to Four Homicides
Overview
John Frederick Carrington is a Washington, D.C.-area man who was linked by investigators to a series of killings spanning nearly three decades. The cases attributed to him involve four victims killed between 1992 and 2021 in Washington, D.C., and neighboring Prince George's County, Maryland. Carrington came to the attention of homicide investigators in a major way after the August 2021 death of his mother, Johnetta Wormley. His arrest in that case led investigators to connect him to three long-unsolved Washington homicides.
Carrington was 53 years old when he was arrested on September 1, 2021. The Metropolitan Police Department subsequently announced that detectives had developed probable cause connecting him to the deaths of Charles Boulware in 1992, Reginald Gaither in 2008, and James Campbell in 2010. Police initially described Carrington as being charged in those cases, although federal prosecutors later clarified that, as of September 3, 2021, formal charges had not yet been filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in connection with the three District of Columbia cold cases. For that reason, Carrington should be described as an accused or suspected serial killer rather than as a person convicted of all four murders.
The 1992 Killing of Charles Boulware
The earliest homicide investigators linked to Carrington occurred on August 30, 1992. At approximately 5:43 a.m., Washington police officers were sent to the unit block of T Street NW after receiving a report of a stabbing. There they found 29-year-old Charles Boulware, a resident of Northwest Washington, suffering from serious stab wounds.
Boulware was transported to a hospital, but attempts to save him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead. The killing remained unresolved for almost 29 years. There was no immediate arrest tying Carrington to Boulware's death, and the case became one of Washington's longstanding cold homicides.
After Carrington's arrest in 2021, investigators said information obtained during questioning caused them to revisit Boulware's murder. Police ultimately announced probable cause to implicate Carrington in the stabbing. The extraordinary length of time between Boulware's death and Carrington's identification as a suspect made this the oldest of the homicides attributed to him.
The 2008 Killing of Reginald Gaither
More than 15 years passed before the second homicide later linked to Carrington. On March 15, 2008, at approximately 10:27 p.m., Metropolitan Police officers responded to the area of North Capitol and Evarts Streets NE in Washington, D.C. Officers found 42-year-old Reginald Gaither inside a vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound.
Gaither, who lived in Alexandria, Virginia, showed no signs of life when emergency personnel arrived and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police records identify the unit block of Evarts Street NE as the homicide location.
Investigators later said that Carrington and Gaither knew one another and had been involved in a dispute. Nevertheless, the homicide remained unsolved for years. It was not until Carrington was questioned after his 2021 arrest that police publicly identified him as the suspected killer.
The 2010 Killing of James Campbell
The next homicide occurred on December 10, 2010. At approximately 7:49 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 2900 block of Southern Avenue SE in Washington after a report of gunfire. They discovered 25-year-old James Campbell suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Campbell, a resident of Bladensburg, Maryland, was transported to a hospital. Despite emergency treatment, he died from his injuries. Investigators later described Campbell as the victim of a robbery and said they did not know whether he and Carrington had known one another before the shooting.
Campbell's death also became a cold case. For more than a decade there was no publicly announced resolution. Following Carrington's arrest in September 2021, Metropolitan Police identified him as the suspect in Campbell's killing as well as the earlier Boulware and Gaither homicides.
The Death of Johnetta Wormley
The investigation that ultimately brought the earlier cases back into focus began in Prince George's County, Maryland, in August 2021. Johnetta Wormley, Carrington's 71-year-old mother, lived in the 2900 block of Brinkley Road in Temple Hills.
On August 29, 2021, at approximately 1:55 p.m., officers went to Wormley's residence to perform a welfare check. They entered the home and discovered Wormley suffering from trauma. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators reported that the apartment appeared to have been ransacked.
Prince George's County investigators developed Carrington as their suspect and obtained a warrant charging him with first-degree murder. Investigative information associated with the warrant alleged that Wormley had been strangled. Police were also told by an acquaintance that Carrington had made an incriminating statement concerning his mother's death before officers discovered her body.
Violence Surrounding the 2021 Homicide
Wormley's death occurred during what authorities described as a brief period of additional alleged violence. Carrington was accused of stabbing a woman during a domestic-related incident in Clinton, Maryland, on August 28, 2021, one day before Wormley was found dead. The woman survived.
Authorities also accused Carrington of attempting to rob a gas station on Old Branch Avenue in Clinton during the early morning hours of August 30. With Carrington wanted on a murder warrant and facing allegations from the other incidents, law enforcement agencies began searching for him.
Arrest and the Cold-Case Breakthrough
On September 1, 2021, members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, working with Prince George's County police, located and arrested Carrington in Southeast Washington, D.C. He was taken into custody on the Maryland murder warrant connected to Wormley's death.
The arrest produced an unexpected development. While Carrington was being interviewed by Prince George's County and Washington investigators, he began discussing three old Washington homicides. A senior Metropolitan Police official later said that Carrington supplied details that investigators believed would have been known only by someone involved in the crimes.
Detectives regarded the information as sufficiently significant to establish probable cause connecting Carrington to the Boulware, Gaither, and Campbell killings. Metropolitan Police publicly announced on September 2, 2021, that Carrington had been linked to all three cold cases.
Questions About the D.C. Murder Charges
The legal status of the three Washington cases requires an important distinction. Metropolitan Police initially announced that Carrington had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder while armed and one count of felony murder in connection with the three cold cases. The following day, however, the U.S. Attorney's Office explained that prosecutors were still working with investigators and had not formally filed charges in those cases at that point.
Police described Carrington's detention in relation to the old killings as a probable-cause arrest while detectives and prosecutors evaluated whether sufficient evidence existed to support prosecution. Investigators believed his statements were important because they allegedly included facts that had never been publicly released.
Consequently, descriptions of Carrington as having conclusively murdered the three D.C. victims go beyond what the publicly documented legal record established at that stage. He was formally accused of his mother's murder in Maryland and identified by Washington homicide investigators as the suspect responsible for three additional killings.
Known and Alleged Victims
- Charles Boulware, 29 - Died August 30, 1992. Boulware was found suffering from stab wounds in the unit block of T Street NW, Washington, D.C. He was transported to a hospital but died from his injuries. Police linked Carrington to the cold case in 2021.
- Reginald Gaither, 42 - Died March 15, 2008. Gaither was found shot inside a vehicle near North Capitol and Evarts Streets NE, Washington, D.C. Police records place the homicide in the unit block of Evarts Street NE. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators later said Gaither and Carrington knew each other and had been involved in a dispute.
- James Campbell, 25 - Died December 10, 2010. Campbell was found suffering from gunshot wounds in the 2900 block of Southern Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead after lifesaving efforts failed. Investigators later described the shooting as connected to a robbery.
- Johnetta Wormley, 71 - Died August 29, 2021. Wormley, Carrington's mother, was discovered dead inside her residence in the 2900 block of Brinkley Road in Temple Hills, Maryland. Authorities alleged that she had been strangled, and Carrington was charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death.
A Pattern Spanning Nearly Three Decades
The cases attributed to Carrington are unusual because of the enormous intervals separating the killings. The first known homicide occurred in 1992, followed by another in 2008, a third in 2010, and the killing of Wormley in 2021. If the allegations surrounding all four deaths are correct, the known period of homicidal activity would span approximately 29 years.
The methods of attack were also varied. Boulware was stabbed, Gaither and Campbell were shot, and Wormley was allegedly strangled. The victims ranged in age from 25 to 71 and were killed in different circumstances. This lack of an obvious uniform method contributed to the cases remaining disconnected for many years.
Significance of Carrington's Statements
The most significant development in the investigation was not a new piece of forensic evidence publicly announced by authorities but Carrington's own alleged statements. According to police officials, the details he provided about the three old Washington cases were information investigators had deliberately kept from the public.
Such information can be crucial in a decades-old homicide investigation because it allows detectives to distinguish between a person merely repeating news reports and someone who may possess firsthand knowledge of a crime. Investigators therefore returned to case files stretching back to 1992 and compared Carrington's statements with evidence gathered at the original scenes.
Conclusion
John Frederick Carrington became the focus of an extraordinary multi-jurisdictional homicide investigation after the death of his mother in August 2021. What initially appeared to be a single Maryland homicide investigation expanded into an examination of three cold cases in Washington, D.C., reaching back almost three decades.
The verified victims connected by investigators to the case are Charles Boulware, killed on August 30, 1992; Reginald Gaither, killed on March 15, 2008; James Campbell, killed on December 10, 2010; and Johnetta Wormley, killed on August 29, 2021. Carrington's alleged statements after his arrest supplied investigators with the breakthrough that caused the three older cases to be associated with him.
Although the pattern has led Carrington to be characterized as an accused or suspected serial killer, the distinction between police allegations and criminal convictions remains important. The publicly reported investigation established that authorities considered him responsible for four deaths, while the three Washington cold cases were still subject to prosecutorial review when the allegations became public.
