Aberdeen was rocked on the morning of April 15, 2024, when firefighters called to a blaze at the Highland Commons apartment complex on Roosevelt Avenue found three people shot to death inside a unit. Victims identified in the scene were Talaya D. Wiley, 48, John C. Claytor, 54, and Melissa L. Williams, 45. All three had suffered gunshot wounds to the head, and investigators say gasoline was used as an accelerant to set the fire, apparently to destroy evidence.

Detectives tied DNA from the scene to Michael Anthony Swann, 35, and say surveillance footage placed him outside the apartment before and after the incident. A backpack near the scene contained items linking him to the crime. Swann was already wanted on an attempted murder warrant from Prince George’s County in February 2024 and a federal parole violation; he was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree murder, arson, reckless endangerment and other counts, and held without bail.

Anyone with information about Talaya Wiley, the apartment on Roosevelt Avenue, or movements around Highland Commons on April 15 is asked to come forward.