Frederick man gets 40 years for stabbing, killing woman in 2020

Clara Niel, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
Updated ·2 min read
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Apr. 10—A Frederick man was ordered on Monday to serve 40 years in prison for stabbing and killing a Frederick woman in July 2020.

Santos Margarito Turcios Benitez, 47, pleaded guilty on Monday to second-degree murder in the killing of 37-year-old Kelly Nicole Serra, then was sentenced.

Serra suffered multiple stab wounds to her body and head, authorities said.

According to online court records, Turcios Benitez was originally charged with first-degree murder. He was being represented by attorneys in the Public Defender's Office, which was closed when the News-Post tried to reach the office for comment Monday afternoon.

Serra's body was found July 29, 2020, in a wooded area in the first block of Waverley Drive, behind Ollie's Bargain Outlet on the Golden Mile. Charging documents say Serra was homeless and was living in the woods at the time of the murder.

Police said Serra's body had been in the wooded area for a while before a police officer on patrol found her.

Police found a witness who said that between 1 and 2 a.m. on July 26, 2020, she was letting her dog out at her apartment on Waverley Drive when she heard a female voice screaming "No, no, stop, stop!"

Another person told police he heard an "indescribable noise" coming from the woods around 1 a.m. on the same day.

Video surveillance from multiple places in the area captured Serra and Turcios Benitez drinking beverages at around 11:05 p.m. on July 25 near the dumpster behind Ollie's. About nine minutes later, they both walked toward a wooded area, near the place where Serra's body was found.

Surveillance footage never showed the pair leaving the wooded area, charging documents say.

Police said they recovered articles of clothing where Serra's body was found that were similar to what Turcios Benitez and Serra were wearing in surveillance footage.

Police also found a bloody pocketknife and a plastic bag. From the plastic bag, they obtained a fingerprint that matched with Turcios Benitez, charging documents say.

Police found through phone records that Turcios Benitez was in the area at the time of the killing, then in Baltimore, then in New York, where he was arrested in April 2021.

Through the 287(g) program, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office determined Turcios Benitez was in the country illegally. The federal 287(g) program allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to train deputies to ask about immigration status of anyone booked in a county's detention center and begin deportation proceedings if needed.

Frederick County State's Attorney Office Chief Counsel Joyce King wrote in an email Monday that Turcios Benitez will serve his 40 years before being deported.

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