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Written by Audrey Staudacher
– February 5, 2024
Daily Stories | Data | Special Features | Murder | Non-Fatal Shooting | Filming | Suspect | Victim |
According to DC Witness data, homicides were down 59% in January compared to December 2023 numbers.
All of this month’s homicides were shooting-related, with nine homicides and 13 non-fatal shootings in January. In December 2023, 22 murders occurred.
Additionally, the number of shooting-related homicides in January was the same as in January 2023.
Early on New Year’s Day, 18-year-old Ashley Hines was shot and killed in the 4300 block of Military Road, NW. She was attending her New Year’s Eve party at a hotel when her gunman opened fire.
Jelani Cousin, 18, was identified as the suspect. On January 2, he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed. The incident was the first homicide in Washington, D.C., in 2024.
On the morning of January 3, police responded to a call about a body in the 1400 block of Canal Street, S.C. An autopsy determined the victim was Harry Keels, 42, who died from gunshot wounds, according to documents from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Keels was reported missing on November 6, but the Metropolitan Police Department has not yet arrested anyone in connection with the incident.
The incident, which began with a carjacking and shooting on January 29, led police to pursue the suspect, 28-year-old Artel Cunningham, to Maryland.
Michael Gill, a 56-year-old former Trump official, was riding in his car in the 900 block of K Street, NW, when Cunningham entered his car and shot him. The suspect fled the scene on foot.
Hours later, Alberto “AJ” Vazquez, a 35-year-old father of two, was shot and killed in the 300 block of N Street in Nebraska after giving Cunningham his car keys.
Cunningham was later killed in a shootout with police in neighboring Prince George’s County, where he also carjacked two vehicles and fired shots at two police cruisers. At the time, it was believed he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Gill was taken to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on February 3.
D.C. Witness data also shows that as of Feb. 1, at least 13 cases reported in January had no suspects or arrests named in connection with the cases.
There were a total of nine homicides in January 2024, the lowest number of homicides in January since 2017.
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