National news briefs

2 charged with killing of Maryland family

RIVERDALE, Md. (AP) — Police say they have charged two people with murder in the slayings of two women and two children found in a trash-filled apartment in the Washington, D.C., area.

Police in Prince George's County, Md., also say they believe the suspects were linked to the adult victims through the sale of marijuana.

A press release identified the victims Saturday as 38-year-old Dawn Yvette Brooks; her two children, 3-year-old Shayla Shante Sikyala and 4-year-old Shakur Sylvester Sikyala; and the children's aunt, 41-year-old Mwasiti Sikyala.

All four were from Lanham.

The two charged were identified as 43-year-old Darrell Lynn Bellard and 18-year-old Tkeisha Nicole Gilmer. It was unclear Saturday whether either had an attorney.

70 involved in Metro rail station fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Metro spokeswoman says a brawl at a rail station in the nation's capital involved 70 people and three people have been arrested.

Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said Saturday that five people were taken to the hospital with injuries. The fight started about 11 p.m. Friday at the L'Enfant Plaza station, but officials are not sure what prompted the brawl.

Transit police charged an 18-year-old man with disorderly conduct. Two juveniles were also charged.

Asato says no weapons were found at the scene.

Escapees linked to killings, police say

PHOENIX (AP) — Two men who escaped from a private Arizona prison and a woman who helped them have been linked to the investigation of a couple's killing in New Mexico, authorities said Saturday.

New Mexico State Police spokesman Peter Olson said Tracy Province, John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch were linked through forensics, but he declined to provide specifics.

He declined to say whether police believe the three were responsible for the killings, adding that "we don't know how involved they are."

Province, McCluskey and Daniel Renwick escaped from the medium-security Arizona State Prison near Kingman on July 30 after authorities say 44-year-old Casslyn Welch of Mesa threw wire cutters over the perimeter fence. Renwick was arrested in Colorado on Aug. 1.