40-year sentence for Montgomery Co. man who murdered wife, turned himself in with baby in tow

A Montgomery County, Maryland, man who murdered his wife last year then walked into a police station holding her baby and turned himself in has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Dennis Hinnant Jr., 30, of Silver Spring, was convicted in May of second-degree murder in the killing of Taresha Pendarvis, 28.

The 40-year sentence handed down by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge John Maloney on Tuesday is the maximum penalty in Maryland for second-degree murder.

Hinnant walked into the Rockville City police station on the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2023, holding Pendarvis’ baby and said he wanted to turn himself in connection with a homicide in Silver Spring, according to charging documents in the case.

When police went to Pendarvis’ apartment on Lanier Drive in Silver Spring, they found her dead in the bathtub, according to police. She had been stabbed multiple times and strangled with a belt.

Hinnant told police he and his wife were arguing about their marriage and a potential divorce when the argument “boiled over.”

Pendarvis’ baby was not harmed.

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