HUSBAND CHARGED IN KENT COUNTY MURDER

Ryan D. Holness

(Crumpton, MD) – The husband who told Maryland State Police homicide investigators he and his wife were carjacked in New Jersey and the carjacker killed his wife along a rural Kent County road early this morning has been charged with his wife’s murder.

After consultation tonight with the Kent County state’s attorney, Maryland State Police homicide investigators charged Ryan D. Holness, 28, of the 48000-block of Spinnaker Court, Lexington Park, Md., with first degree murder and second degree murder. He has been processed at the Centreville Barracks and will be taken before a court commissioner in Kent County later tonight for a bond hearing.

Ryan Holness is charged with the murder of his wife, Serika Dunkley Holness, 26, of the same address. The body of Serika Holness was found by police lying in a field along Rt. 290, four miles north of Rt. 301, in Crumpton, at about 6:00 a.m. today.

Maryland State Police and the Kent County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call shortly before 6:00 a.m. today in the 10000-block of Crumpton Road (Rt. 290). Ryan Holness had gone to a house there and asked the resident to contact 911. He told police he and his wife were traveling back from visiting relatives in Brooklyn, New York last night when they were carjacked at a rest area between exits 8A and 8 on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Ryan Holness told investigators he was made to drive to the Crumpton area and was assaulted by the suspect who was armed with a gun and a knife. He said the suspect bound his hands and feet with duct tape before attacking his wife who had attempted to flee.

While Maryland State Police launched a nationwide search for the suspect described by Ryan Holness and the vehicle today, they also interviewed numerous individuals and examined physical evidence at the scene. Information provided by Holness throughout the day today did not match information developed through witnesses and evidence at the scene. Further detail about those inconsistencies cannot be provided at this time.

Troopers continue to search for the 2007 blue Honda Accord. The car is believed to have Virginia registration plates reading either 876718, or KDZ-1408.

This investigation and the search for the vehicle will continue throughout the weekend. Anyone with information about this murder or the missing vehicle, is urged to contact Maryland State Police at the Centreville Barracks, at 410-758-1101.