Suitland senior fatally stabbed near home days before graduation

A Suitland High School senior was killed just days before he was set to walk across the stage at graduation, turning a late-spring milestone into a homicide investigation in Hillcrest Heights. Amari Clarke, 17, was fatally stabbed near his home behind a building at the Marlow Towers Condominiums on St. Barnabas Road, and Prince George’s County police said they found him there after the attack.

Family members said the violence unfolded around 12:30 p.m. and that Clarke was stabbed in the courtyard near his home before paramedics took him to a hospital, where he later died. They said the suspect took Clarke’s phone and shoes before fleeing. A witness told FOX 5 she saw one man attacking Clarke while he was on the ground and heard another person nearby screaming for the attacker to stop. The witness believed the attacker was an adult man wearing a yellow shirt, but police said they do not yet have a suspect description and are still trying to determine a motive.

Clarke’s parents said he had planned to attend trade school after graduation and train to become an elevator technician. Family members described him as a kind, sweet teenager who liked video games and basketball. For his family, the killing did more than end a life; it erased a future that was scheduled to begin with a diploma on June 1.

Suitland High School’s public calendar lists graduation for June 1 at The Show Place Arena, and the school is located at 5200 Silver Hill Road in Forestville. That date now stands as a reminder of how close Clarke was to a major rite of passage, and how quickly violence can reach students outside school walls and into the neighborhoods where they live.

The case lands in a county where public safety remains a defining political and civic issue. Prince George’s County police, the fourth largest law enforcement agency in Maryland, serve nearly 900,000 residents. County crime data has shown some improvement, with police saying homicide fell 40% in 2025 compared with 2024 and violent crime fell 19% through mid-December, but Clarke’s death shows how fragile that progress remains.

County leaders have said their broader response includes public safety, accountability, community engagement and juvenile justice. In Hillcrest Heights, those priorities now meet a family’s loss and a senior’s missing graduation, with investigators still trying to identify who attacked Amari Clarke and why.