Lopez Indicted on 5 Counts in McQuain Deaths

The man charged in the death of his  estranged wife in Germantown and her 11-year-old son has been indicted on murder, kidnapping and robbery counts, a Montgomery County prosecutor said Thursday.

Curtis Lopez, a 45-year-old North Carolina resident, is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center. His arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 6, Deputy State's Attorney John Maloney said.

A Montgomery County grand jury indicted Lopez on two counts each of murder and kidnapping and one count of robbery.

His attorney, public defender Alan Drew, declined to comment.

Police trace their investigation back to early October after Jane McQuain, 51, failed to arrive at work.

On Oct. 12, police officers and rescue personnel entered McQuain's Germantown apartment through a second-story window. They found her dead in her bed. An autopsy revealed she suffered blunt force trauma to her head and was stabbed twice in the back, police said.

Her 2011 Honda CRV was missing along with a flat-screen TV and a lamp. Investigators began a nationwide search for her son, William McQuain.

The next day, Lopez was arrested the next day in Charlotte, N.C., with McQuain's Honda, police said.

On Oct. 18, a police dog found William McQuain's body in a wooded area in Clarksburg. His skull had been crushed, police said. A baseball bat, thought to be the murder weapon, was found nearby. Surveillance footage from a nearby gas station showed Curtis Lopez and William McQuain together on Oct. 1. Investigators believe Lopez murdered the boy then.

Both kidnapping charges involve William, Maloney said. He was taken from a friend's home and then to several places in the county before he was killed, according to police.

The robbery charge relates to the stealing of Jane McQuain's vehicle and other personal property, police said.

Maloney said prosecutors won't decide whether to pursue the death penalty until police complete the investigation. Under Maryland law, prosecutors need a confession or biological or video evidence of the crime to qualify for the death penalty.

"We'll wait till the police investigation is done, and go from there," Maloney said.

If the case doesn't warrant the death penalty, Lopez faces up to life in prison without parole for the murder charges, 20 years for kidnapping and 15 years for the robbery count.

Maloney and Assistant State's Attorney Danielle Sartwell will prosecute the case.