Janice Short was fatally shot on September 18, 2004, in the 300 block of Seaton Street NE, Washington, D.C. She was a day short of her 37th birthday and had been visiting her mother that afternoon to plan a birthday dinner. While standing in front of a vacant apartment building and talking with two neighborhood men she knew, gunfire erupted at about 4:40 p.m. Janice was killed; the two men were wounded and police have said they may have been the intended targets.

Janice was a stay-at-home mother of three daughters, then aged 19, 13, and 8. Friends and family described her as kind, fun-loving, generous, and devoted to her children, with a love of oldies but goodies music. A candlelight vigil was held on what would have been her birthday, where community members left balloons and stuffed animals at the location of the shooting.

No arrests have been announced and no suspects have been publicly identified. Does anyone who lived in the neighborhood or was there that afternoon have information that could help bring Janice’s family some answers?