News Releases

Montgomery County Dentist Charged With Second-Degree Murder

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Gaithersburg, MD - A Montgomery County Dentist has been arrested and faces multiple felony charges after being arrested at his dental practice.

Dr. James Ryan, an oral surgeon with a practice on Observation Drive in Germantown, was arrested the morning of Tuesday, March 22 and charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 25-year-old Sarah Harris.

Harris, a former patient of 48-year-old Ryan, began working in Ryan’s practice as a surgical technician in October of 2020. They began a romantic relationship around January of 2021, while she worked at Ryan’s practice. The two lived together in Ryan’s Clarksburg home. The relationship between the two continued until her fatal overdose on January 26, 2022. Ryan had been providing controlled substances, including Propofol, Ketamine, Diasepam, and midazolam, to Harris.

On January 26, Montgomery County Police 5^th District officers responded to the 13900 block of Godwit Street in Clarksburg, for an overdose. Montgomery County Fire Rescue responded and attempted life-saving measures, but Sarah Harris was pronounced dead on the scene.

Montgomery county police arrested Dr. Ryan following an extensive investigation and he is being held in the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit without bond.

This is an active and ongoing investigation.

This investigation was a coordinated effort of the Montgomery County Police under the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network (MCIN).  Governor Larry Hogan launched MCIN in 2017 and provides grant funding and strategic support through his office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services to MCIN member sites to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations through inter-agency collaboration and data sharing to make Maryland safer. 

The Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services funded this project under subaward number, MCIN-2022-0018.

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Release ID: 22-154
Media Contact: S.D. Goff 
Categories: homicide