Maryland Woman Charged With Attempted Murder In Domestic Dispute

Location: Residential address along Timbercreek Lane in Long Neck Shores, Millsboro, Delaware

Date of Occurrence: Friday, May 28, 2010, at approximately 8:00 p.m.

Involved Parties:
Suspect- Dorenda Howard, 36, of Dalton Drive in Gwynn Oak, Maryland
Victim 1- 47-year-old female
Victim 2- son of victim 1, a 20-year-old male

Resume: On Friday evening, Troopers were dispatched to a residential address along Timbercreek Lane, in Millsboro’s Long Neck Shores development, for a reported domestic incident with injuries.

Officers arrived on the scene and contacted the two victims. They found both victims had been cut with a knife by the alleged suspect, but their injuries were not considered life threatening at this point. Medical treatment was provided and detectives were called out to handle this case.

This investigation revealed the suspect, Dorenda Howard, drove to this home to confront the 47-year-old female victim about having an alleged affair with her husband.

Once at the house, the suspect assaulted the victim, pulled a knife from her purse and cut the victim’s throat. She forced the victim back into her bedroom where she locked the door and continued the attack. At one point, Howard pulled a plastic bag over the victim’s head and face and tried to suffocate her. The victim was able to rip the bag away and escape her bedroom.

The victim ran to her son’s bedroom and called for help. Her son came out of his room and the two demanded Mr. Howard leave. Howard was still holding the knife and was now threatening the son. She attacked him as well and cut his neck too.

The son ran outside and screamed for a neighbor to call 911. Ms. Howard ran to her car and fled the scene in her vehicle at a high rate of speed.

Detectives were able to contact Ms. Howard and convince her to turn herself in. She responded to Troop 4 in Georgetown around midnight and was placed into custody without incident.

Dorenda Howard was formally charged with the following felony offenses: two counts of Attempted Murder, two counts of Possession of a Deadly Weapon during the Commission of a Felony, Kidnapping and Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon.

Bail was set at $171,000 secured and Ms. Howard was committed to the Sussex Correctional Institute.