News Releases

Arrest Made in June 2012 Homicide

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department- Homicide and Sex Section have made an arrest in the June 6, 2012 homicide of Eric Somuah.  Katrina Renee Ben, age 35, of the 2700 block of Highway 84 East in Silver Creek, Mississippi, has been arrested and charged with first degree murder for the homicide of Somuah.

On June 6, 2012, Montgomery County Police officers responded to the victim's apartment in the 1100 block of East-West Highway in Silver Spring to check his welfare; a family member could not get in touch with the victim and the victim had not been to work.  Responding officers made entry into the apartment and found Somuah deceased from a gunshot wound to the head.  A spent shell casing was recovered on the scene.  The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the manner of death as a homicide.

On scene, officers noted that the apartment was locked and there were no visible signs of forced entry.  Katrina Renee Ben was the last known person to be with the victim in his apartment before his death.  During an interview, Ben stated to detectives that she was the victim's neighbor and that she was involved in a romantic relationship with the victim.

The day after the homicide, a partially disassembled gun was found on Interstate 495 near Colesville Road by a resident and was turned over to the police department.  The bullet recovered from the victim's body was examined by the Montgomery County Police-Firearms Examination Unit and it was determined that the rifling characteristics from the bullet were consistent with the gun recovered from the Interstate.  After an extensive investigation, it was also determined that Ben had purchased a gun at a pawn shop in 2004 and that the make, model, and serial number on that purchased gun and recovered gun matched.

On June 19, 2013, an arrest warrant was issued for Ben, charging her with first degree murder.  On June 21, Montgomery County police detectives, with the assistance of the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), arrested Ben at her residence in Silver Creek, Mississippi.  Ben is currently in the Lawrence County, Mississippi jail, pending extradition to Montgomery County.

RLI

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Release ID: 13-221
Media Contact: mcpnews 
Categories: press-releases