Bowie Faith Leaders Plan Prayer Service as Response to Murder

Bowie area faith leaders will hold a prayer service at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, in response to the murder of a Bowie parent last month and to support his family.

Deon Eugene Warren, 19, of the 8800 block of East Grove in Upper Marlboro, was arrested Oct. 1 at a hotel in Laurel, reports the Capital-Gazette. He is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 30 shooting death of Mitchell White, 39, of Flamingo Lane in Bowie. Prince George’s County Police say White was fatally shot as he tried to break up a fight between teenagers in the Bel Air Swim and Racquet Club parking lot.

The shooting happened near a tree-lined area close to Bowie High School.

“We share the shock and pain of Mitchell White’s death,” said Rabbi Steve Weisman of Bowie’s Temple Solel. “We are here to give our love and support to his family and friends. We will work to do all that we can to make sure this does not happen here again.”

Attendees are asked to gather in the Bowie Library parking lot at 15210 Annapolis Road. From there, they will process to the site of the shooting, according to a news release from the Interfaith Council of Suburban Maryland, formerly known as the Bowie Interfaith Clergy Association.

“The clergy of the area are calling for a gathering of the community in response to this violent tear in the fabric of our community. We hope to bring healing and closure. We will reclaim the space. There is no space that is not sacred,” said the Rev. Cynthia Snavely in response to the shooting, and the clergy’s hopes for the Bowie community.

The Interfaith Council is working with private citizens, individual houses of worship, elected officials, and other community leaders on this event, and other collective responses to this tragedy.

Weisman added, “We are bombarded daily by headlines of such tragedies, but when it happens in our own home, we are forced to take it more seriously, to reach out to each other in pain and in support, with caring and compassion. Others may attempt to define Bowie through this senseless violence, but it is up to us, the Bowie community, to reject such characterizations, to come together and say loudly and clearly ‘We are one,’ and ‘We will not let this happen in our community again.’”

For questions, contact Rev. Snavely at 240-475-2111 or minister@goodloeuu.org or Rabbi Weisman at askrabbisteve@verizon.net.

Related stories:

Murder Suspect Arrested in Shooting Near Bowie Swim Club

One Dies in Shooting Outside Bowie Swim Club

»A man was shot and killed outside Bel Air Swim and Racquet Club in Bowie Tuesday. Credit: Screenshot from NBC Washington.