Police arrest suspect in Suitland teen's fatal St. Barnabas Road stabbing

Prince George’s County police arrested 30-year-old Anforne Golden of Suitland in Silver Spring and charged him with first- and second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Amari Clarke.

Investigators said Clarke was stabbed about 12:20 p.m. May 8 in the 3800 block of St. Barnabas Road. He was found with stab wounds and died a short time later at a hospital. Police said early in the investigation that they did not believe the killing was random, and they offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment.

Police said Golden and Clarke knew each other and that the stabbing happened during an argument. Family members said the suspect took Clarke’s phone and shoes before fleeing, a detail that has deepened questions about the motive and the final moments before the attack. The arrest by the PGPD Fugitive Unit in Silver Spring came days after Clarke’s mother made a public plea on Mother’s Day for answers in her son’s killing.

Clarke was a senior at Suitland High School and was set to graduate June 1. His family said he planned to attend trade school and become an elevator technician. They remembered him as a positive, family-oriented teenager who loved basketball and video games, a portrait that has resonated across Suitland and the wider Prince George’s County schools community.

The killing also raised urgent concerns about teen safety in and around Suitland, where residents have been left asking how an argument between acquaintances turned deadly in broad daylight on St. Barnabas Road. The case has prompted lingering questions about whether there were earlier warning signs, whether police or school officials had any prior touchpoints with either young man, and what more could have been done to interrupt the violence before it reached a neighborhood roadway.

A community remembrance in Upper Marlboro drew hundreds of family members, friends, classmates and residents who gathered to honor Clarke and mark the loss felt well beyond his immediate circle. For Suitland families, the arrest offers a measure of movement in a painful case, but it does not answer the central questions that remain about why Clarke was killed and how another teenager’s life ended so suddenly.

Anyone with information can call the Homicide Unit at 301-516-2512 or submit a tip anonymously through Prince George’s County Crime Solvers.