Prince George's County police make arrest in Sept. slaying of student walking to school The September shooting of 18-year-old Marckel Ross on Sept. 11 occurred as the teen was walking to Central High School in Capitol Heights. Police said he was the apparent victim of robbery, though they haven't been able to say whether anything was taken. Travon Bennett, 20, of Bryans Road Md., has been charged with first-degree murder in Ross's killing, police said. Bennett was arrested in October in an unrelated armed robbery and during that investigation authorities recovered a handgun linked to Ross's killing, according to court documents. Ross, the second high school student shot to death in less than a month, had run track and modeled, and was in the 11th grade. His principal described him as a "strong student" and he had talked to relatives about joining the military, becoming a police officer or going to college. "This was a young man who deserved to live," said Central High's principal, Charoscar Coleman. Ross's parents said he had been bullied when he first moved to Prince George's from Anne Arundel in 2009, and had gotten into fights, but they felt those skirmishes were well in the past. Ross's mother said that she had urged her son to ride with friends to school, and not walk the 1.5 mile-route as he was doing the day he was shot. Police said he was gunned down while carrying his school books. The victim's 16-year-old brother, Markies, came across the crime scene on Old Central Avenue and spotted the body as he was riding to school that morning. Police also said they arrested a suspect in the Feb. 9 killing of 71-year-old Geraldine McIntyre in her Capitol Heights home. McIntyre, known as "Miss Geraldine," used a walker or wheelchair to get around, police said. McIntyre was attacked inside her small yellow house on a Saturday afternoon and later died at a hospital, police said. James Alphonso Ward, 46, of Capitol Heights, has been charged with murder and other charges. Authorities said in court papers that Ward stole a 32-inch flat screen television from McIntyre's house and sold it to a person who lives on the same street for $40. That person, who knew Ward's nickname, later realized the television belonged to McIntyre and called police, the court papers say. Neighbors said that the victim lived with her adult daughter, who had been hospitalized before her mother was found dead. Both had limited mobility. Neighbors also said at the time that in the summer McIntyre would sometimes leave her door open so people delivering meals could get inside. The latest slaying in Prince George's occurred following a hotel party in Lanham early Sunday morning. Police said 20-year-old David Esequel Avelar died at a hospital after being shot in the parking lot at the hotel on Baltimore Avenue. Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that Avelar's death was gang related, and that the shooting occurred during a fight between rival groups staying the same hotel. Keith L. Alexander contributed to this report.