CRIME SOLVERS

of Montgomery County, Maryland, Inc.

.

In Memmorium

James L. "Sonny" Buchanan

Sonny Buchanan was a member of the Board of Directors of Crime Solvers of Montgomery County, MD. On October 3, 2002 at 7:41 AM while mowing the lawn at Fitzgerald's Auto Mall in White Flint he became the 3rd murder victim of John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. The serial murder spree is known as the DC SNIPER case. Sonny spent much of his free time over the past decade as a board member and vice president of programs at the Boys and Girls Club in Rockville, MD. 39 year old Sonny Buchanan, born in Bethesda, grew up in Gaithersburg and graduated from Gaithersburg High School in 1981. The youngest of three children, Buchanan was called "Little Sonny" by his family because his dad was known as "Big Sonny." He was an honors student and finished "fourth or fifth" in his senior class, his oldest sister Deborah Cox said.

While earning a bachelor's degree in human resources management at the University of Maryland, Buchanan completed an internship at District Court in Rockville. He had wanted to be a lawyer, but their father, who did landscaping when he was not working as a Montgomery County police officer, had instilled a hearty work ethic in his kids. Before long, Buchanan had taken on his father's customers and was running his own landscaping business in Rockville.

Buchanan more or less retired from landscaping about a year before to move to his father's farm, a dream he had had since he was young. But he would travel back to the area every week or two to take care of a friends lawn and see his family and friends. For years, Buchanan and his family would bring Christmas trees from his father's farm to the parking lot at White Flint mall. Selling them to benefit the Boys and Girls Club, the Buchanan family's operation became a familiar sight.

Friends say he mentored countless kids throughout the years. According to his friends taught the children how to plant seeds and nurture their growth, and tried to instill the life lessons that go along with seed planting and he helped put at least one youth through college.

Besides his parents, Buchanan leaves two sisters, Deborah Cox and Victoria Snider of Rockville; a brother-in-law, Bill Snider, of Rockville; and two nieces, two nephews and one grandniece.
Buchanan's family has created a foundation in his memory to help underprivileged children get a college education.