Rockville Man Fatally Beat Wheaton Woman He Worked With: Police

WHEATON, MD — A Wheaton woman found murdered five days after she left her late shift job at a KFC was beaten and left for dead behind a shopping center, authorities say. A Rockville co-worker she was involved with is in custody after he reportedly admitted to investigators that he punched the victim during an argument.

Montgomery County Police say Dania Suyapa Mendez De Guerra, 21, of the 11500 block of Amherst Avenue, left the KFC restaurant at 2119 University Boulevard West, where she works, just after midnight on Monday, Nov. 6. De Guerra, who normally walks from her residence to and from work, did not return home after work that evening, her husband reported to police.

Montgomery County Police found de Guerra's body on Friday behind a shopping center at 2321 University Boulevard West. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled the death a homicide by multiple blunt force trauma and asphyxia.

When de Guerra was reported as a missing person on Nov. 6, detectives learned that she was in a relationship with a co-worker, Elmer Marilan Campos-Martinez, 47, of Cove Lane in Rockville.

On Friday, Nov. 10, de Guerra’s body was located behind a commercial establishment on University Boulevard West at Elkin Street. Her cell phone and purse were missing.

Detectives talked to Campos-Martinez on Friday after de Guerra's body was found and he acknowledged they were in a relationship. Both of them worked at the KFC on Nov. 5 and Campos-Martinez waited for the victim to complete her shift. When de Guerra left the KFC about 12:30 a.m. she argued with Campos-Martinez and wanted to end the relationship.

Campos-Martinez punched the victim three times, pushed her to the ground, and she hit her head, he told police. He said that de Guerra appeared unresponsive, so he took her purse and cell phone and left in a taxi, discarding her property in a Dumpster.

Campos-Martinez was charged with the second-degree murder of de Guerra. He remains in jail on a no-bond status.

Anyone with information regarding this homicide is asked to call police at 240-773-5070.

Photos of Dania Suyapa Mendez De Guerra and Elmer Marilan Campos-Martinez, courtesy of Montgomery County Police