Police on failing to locate Mr. Emeruwa and the children at their home, commenced a manhunt for the suspect and issued an Amber Alert on the missing children. The children who share the last name Emeruwa, are Elijah(4), Antinnoe(6) and Jachi(8). Amber Alert is a U.S. voluntary partnership program between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, and transportation agencies to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to air a description of the abducted child and suspected abductor.

The deceased had filed domestic violence complaints with authorities in the past, also called the police to their home on several occasions Emeruwa was abusive to her. In January 2006, Emeruwa was charged with second-degree assault for head-butting his wife twice in the lip, according to court documents filed in Prince George’s County. The troubled relationship made Emeruwa’s family members concerned of Ochulo's safety.

Around 6:15 p.m the same day a car matching the description of the suspect's was spotted in Olney, one of the neighboring towns. The witness contacted police who pursued the car, with the suspect ramming several cruisers and police cars before coming to a halt at a dead end. Police thereafter shot out the tires.

Police arrested the suspect, 41-year-old Kelechi Charles Emeruwa, on a first-degree murder warrant in the death of his wife. The children were unharmed and taken into custody by police. The children would be cared for by Child Protective Services until they could be placed with family members, according to police.

Emeruwa was charged in court the following day, Tuesday, with the murder of his wife. The suspect, wearing a green jumpsuit, appeared via closed-circuit television for the hearing in Montgomery County District Court in Rockville. The judge ordered him to turn over his passport and held him without bond. Charging documents indicate the suspect stayed with the children at their family home while his wife traveled to Nigeria.

On Monday, Emeruwa drove to Dulles Airport to pick up the wife upon her arrival from Nigeria. Ochulo was upset with the husband for driving her car. Emeruwa later that morning apparently in the climax of an argument stabbed his wife to death. Their three children may have witnessed part of the attack. Ikenna, the suspect’s brother called police after he arrived the couple's home and found Ochulo sprawled on the floor with the whereabouts of other members of the family unknown.

A preliminary hearing in the case is set for January 26.

Photo Above: Left to Right Antinnoe(6), Elijah(4), Jachi(8)
Click For Enlarged Photo

Photo Above: The home of the suspect and the victim where the murder took place, sealed-off by police.
Click For Enlarged Photo