Breanna Howell, 31, was found outside the Willows Apartment Complex on Clark Road in Gary, Indiana, in the early hours of March 19, 2025, having suffered a fatal gunshot wound. The Lake County Coroner’s Office ruled her death a homicide.

Investigators say the focus quickly turned to Howell’s 24-year-old ex-boyfriend, Joequan D. Washington. Witnesses reported the two had been at a gathering and were arguing and fighting through the night. According to those accounts, the altercation escalated inside an apartment where Washington allegedly choked Howell before shooting her in the chest. Surveillance footage was said to show Washington and his brother, Christin Washington, dragging Howell’s body out of the apartment and leaving her on the pavement just before 2:00 a.m.

Washington was arrested in the Indianapolis area on April 22, 2025, and charged with murder and a felony firearm enhancement; Christin Washington faces a Level 5 felony charge of assisting a criminal. Multiple agencies, including the Indiana State Police, East Chicago Police Department, Gary Police Department and the Lake County Coroner’s Office, worked the case. If anyone witnessed the events that night or has information, please come forward.