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Suspect charged in killing of pregnant Jessup woman
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - A Laurel man was charged in the slaying of a pregnant Jessup woman who was found stabbed to death during Memorial Day weekend, Laurel police said Wednesday.
Robert Headley, 48, of no fixed address, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Christen Hawkins, 21, whose body was found May 27 behind the Laurel municipal swimming pool, police said.
Headley was linked to the case that same day when Frederick County police stopped him for a traffic violation and discovered he was driving a 2000 Ford Explorer sought in connection with a homicide.
Laurel police had been searching for the Explorer, which Hawkins borrowed from her mother and was seen getting into with Headley on Memorial Day.
Headley was arrested for driving without a license and detained in Frederick until he was extradited Tuesday, said Laurel police spokesman Jim Collins.
DNA confirmed the blood on Headley’s shirt belonged to Hawkins, but the murder weapon has not been found, Collins said.
Hawkins, who was three months pregnant, was stabbed multiple times in the face and neck.
Police had to identify her using fingerprints.
“The police chief put it yesterday that in all of his years as an investigator, this was a very gruesome case,” Collins said.
“You can look at the amount of stab wounds she received, and know that this was not someone who arbitrarily stabbed her.
“It was someone who knew her.”
Prince George’s State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey said Wednesday that forensic evidence against Headley was solid, even though police have not determined a motive.
“Their relationship sounded a little murky, but I don’t believe there was evidence of a romantic relationship,” Ivey said.
Police said Headley and Hawkins were friends, but Headley was not the father of her child.
Hawkins’ mother Heidi Hawkins, 52, said her daughter’s on-and-off-again boyfriend was the father, and Christen left her job at Tastee Diner in Laurel to go into rehabilitation for a substance abuse problem.
The family could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Louise Fincham, 71, was Hawkins’ manager at the diner and remembered her as “a nice girl.”
Fincham said she doesn’t know Headley, but diner customers saw him and Hawkins leave Sportman’s Pub across the street on the night she died.
“It’s very disturbing that a such a young person was killed,” Collins said.
“Some people say she had gotten into a little bit of trouble, but we don’t judge any victim by her past ... there is no winner in this case.
“Both families are going to suffer.”
Court records show Headley has been convicted of several misdemeanors since 1998. He was charged with assaulting the mother of his own child in 1999 and later convicted of violating a restraining order.
He is being held without bond at the Department of Correction in Hyattsville.
Hawkins’ death marked Laurel’s second homicide in 2008.
cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com
