Deputy First Class

Elizabeth "Liz" Licera Magruder

Prince George's County Sheriff's Office

Prince George's County, Maryland

Age: 30

Tour: 1 year, 6 months

End of Watch: Thursday, August 29, 2002

Badge Number: 165

DFC Elizabeth R. "Liz" Licera Magruder and Sergeant James V. "Jim" Arnaud were shot and killed while attempting to serve a psychiatric petition on an individual in a home on Lynmont Drive in Adelphi, Maryland at 9:30 p.m. on the evening of August 29, 2002.

Arnaud and Magruder arrived at the house around 9:25 p.m. The suspect refused to go with Arnaud and Magruder and became belligerent; Magruder called for assistance over the radio at 9:34 p.m. The suspect retreated into a room and retrieved a handgun which he had hidden away in a baby's crib, opening fire. Arnaud was shot in the carotid artery and chest and retreated into a different room, mortally wounded. Seeing Arnaud felled, Magruder retreated towards the living room and drew her sidearm. The suspect shot six times at her and one shot struck her in the left side of the head before she could fire. The shooter then went into the room where the injured Arnaud was and shot him four more times, striking the liver. The suspect's father, who was home at the time, called 911 at 9:39 p.m. to report the shooting. Arnaud died at the scene. Magruder was airlifted to the Prince George's Hospital Center, with CPR being performed on the way. However, after arriving at the hospital, she was pronounced dead by 11:15 p.m.

After shooting the deputies, the suspect fled the scene and a massive search effort quickly followed. The suspect was arrested two days later, after undercover police officers spotted him coming from an apartment building at the Quebec Arms apartments, in the 8200 block of 14th Avenue, in nearby Langley Park, Maryland, at 1:30 a.m. on August 31st, 2002, approximately two miles from the scene of the shooting. The suspect ran from the officers, and the police lost sight of him. A U.S. Park Police helicopter was called in and a resident called police around 15 minutes later. They found the suspect, who resisted arrest, and was captured at a shed after a police canine and taser were used. The handgun used in the murders was recovered from the suspect as well.

In November 2003, the suspect was found not guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, but was instead found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, along with being found guilty of the charge of using a handgun in commission of a felony.

In September 2005, the convictions were overturned on an appeal and the suspect was ordered to face a new trial. The first attempt at a new trial ended with a mistrial in June 2007, after jurors could not come to a verdict. However, a few months later, in October 2007, the suspect was convicted during his second trial, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with credit for time already served, thus having to serve a sentence of 25 years in a prison hospital. As of 2017, he has served 15 out of 30 years.

The murders of Sergeant Arnaud and PFC Magruder were the first line-of-duty deaths for the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office in its 306-year history.

DFC Magruder had been employed with the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office for 18 months, and was posthumously promoted to Deputy First Class.

DFC Magruder is survived by her husband, Derwinn, and 3-year-old son, Devinn (born July 11, 1999).

Read more: http://www.odmp.org/officer/16376-private-first-class-elizabeth-licera-magruder

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Elizabeth "Liz" Licera was born on April 13, 1972 in Virginia, to Jose Licera and Emma Licera, from Peru. She had two sisters, Emma and Vilma, and one brother, Jose Licera, Jr. She was baptized at the San Pedro Nolasco Church in Callao, Peru two years after her birth, graduated from Oxon Hill High School in 1992 and went on to become a certified hairdresser. She also studied nursing at Prince George's Community College and held many different jobs, working for the Professional Security Bureau, W.S. Jenks & Son, and for the United Parcel Service (UPS) as a supervisor, before finding her niche in becoming a deputy sheriff. In 1994 and 1995 she worked at the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Oxon Hill, Maryland and was well-liked by her fellow coworkers there, who remembered her as being friendly and funny. She was even the favorite waitress of one policeman who frequented the restaurant, whom she confided in her desires of becoming a law enforcement officer someday. She married Derwinn D. Magruder (born April 25, 1971), a veteran of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, on June 24, 1999; their wedding was performed by Rev. R. Clinton Washington (1935-2010), who also baptized their son, Devinn (born July 11, 1999), whom she affectionately nicknamed "Snickerdoodle". To help raise their young son, DFC Magruder and her husband bought a new house in Clinton, Maryland shortly before her death. She joined the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office in February 2001, went through two academies, as she injured her foot in the first. She completed her second academy as one of the most physically fit members, being awarded the P.T. award and receiving the highest academic score. At the academy, she was affectionately nicknamed "Mags" by her classmates and deskmate. DFC Magruder graduated from the Southern Maryland Criminal Justice Academy on May 3, 2002, as one of the top graduating members; she had the highest academic score of everybody there. Before she died, a friend of hers from back in her UPS days had actually confided in her that she had a dream premonition of her being shot and killed. Her funeral, which drew 2,000 officers from around the region and was attended by the governor of Maryland, was held at the Church of the Great Commission in Suitland, Maryland on September 5, 2002.

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Thank you D.S. for the nice photo of her headstone!!!