Stepfather guilty of slaying girl with sword

A Gaithersburg man was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 slaying of his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

The Montgomery County jury on Wednesday convicted David Hang, 42, of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Jessica Nguyen.

Prosecutors said Hang used a small sword to kill the Gaithersburg middle-school student because he was angry about his divorce.

She was found dead in the basement of the family's town home.

Boy smuggled marijuana in cereal box, feds say

A 15-year-old boy was arrested at Washington Dulles International Airport on drug charges after he tried to smuggle marijuana and drug paraphernalia inside a cereal box, authorities said.

The teen, a U.S. citizen, arrived on a flight from France on Sunday, when Customs and Border Protection officers noticed that the cereal box in the traveler's luggage felt unusually heavy, authorities said.

Instead of a nutritious breakfast, the customs officer found a white medical kit that contained less than one-fifth of an ounce of marijuana, along with paraphernalia.

The traveler was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

Missing woman found in creek ruled a homicide

The death of Shavon Phillips -- who was missing from the District and found dead in a Prince George's County creek -- has been ruled a homicide, police said.

Phillips, 22, was last seen on the 400 block of 61st Street NE on July 30, and reportedly disappeared after taking her child to a day care center on that block. Police said her decomposed body was found in a creek near the 12200 block of Braemer Circle in Fort Washington on Aug. 1.

The medical examiner's office determined Phillip's death was a homicide, and police are continuing to investigate.