Driver Killed in Branch Avenue Crash Near Marlow Heights Shopping Center

Christopher Umanzor, 28, of Waldorf was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-vehicle crash on the 4300 block of Branch Avenue at about 9:10 p.m. Friday, March 27, near the Marlow Heights Shopping Center in Prince George's County.

The Prince George's County Police Department's Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit is leading the investigation. Preliminary findings show that Umanzor's vehicle struck the rear of a second car, forcing both vehicles off the road; his car then hit a guardrail. The second driver and his passenger escaped injury and remained at the scene.

Emergency crews and police converged on Branch Avenue (MD-5) across from Ourisman Chevrolet, generating a heavy response that disrupted traffic along the commercial strip well into Friday night. Bystanders in the area described a significant emergency presence along the normally busy corridor.

The 4300 block sits within one of Prince George's highest-volume commercial stretches, where shopping center access lanes, local trips, and through-traffic on MD-5 mix at speeds that have at times produced serious crashes and drawn calls from residents for stricter enforcement or road design changes. No updated timeline from the State Highway Administration or county transportation planners for a formal safety review of this segment was available as of Monday morning.

Anyone with information, dashcam footage, or business surveillance video from the area is asked to contact Prince George's County Crime Solvers. No arrests or charges had been reported as of March 30. What the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit concludes about the cause will determine whether this stretch of Branch Avenue becomes the subject of criminal proceedings, increased enforcement, or a formal engineering review.