Taeje Butler, 25, was shot to death inside a Southeast Washington, D.C., apartment on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Police found Butler near the front door of the residence in the 3500 block of 6th Street SE with gunshot wounds to her neck and head; she was pronounced dead at the scene. The couple’s young children witnessed the shooting and later gave statements to detectives, one saying Daddy killed mommy and describing a little gun, another saying their father put the gun to their mother’s neck.

Twenty-five-year-old Josiah Garrison, the children’s father, was arrested at the apartment and charged with second-degree murder while armed. Investigators say Garrison called a relative after the shooting, saying I shot Taeje in the head and she’s dead and that he feared fleeing; that relative called 911. Garrison told police the shooting was accidental during a struggle over the firearm and that an argument over infidelity had escalated, but investigators reported no signs of a struggle on Butler’s body. A silver-and-black Ruger .357 Magnum revolver believed to be the murder weapon was recovered from a trash bin after security footage showed Garrison disposing of a white bag.

The investigation noted prior domestic disputes between the couple, including a 2022 incident in which both accused the other of striking their then-one-year-old child. Does anyone have information about Butler, the household, or the events leading up to April 9 that could help clarify what happened?