Sharmell Robinson, a young mother of three, was killed on the evening of Saturday, March 2, 1996, in the 600 block of O Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Her family describes her as vibrant; her death was sudden and violent and left her children without their mother.

The Metropolitan Police Department treats the case as a cold case homicide. Over the years investigators have used outreach tactics including featuring Robinson on the 10 of spades in a deck of cold case playing cards distributed in the D.C. Jail and posting material about the case on YouTube. Her mother, Velda Jones, and cousin, Theresa Fowler, have continued to press for information and keep her memory in the public eye. No arrests have been made, no suspects have been publicly named, and the motive remains unknown. A reward is being offered for information that leads to arrest and conviction.

Did anyone in Shaw or the surrounding area see or hear anything on the night of March 2, 1996, that could help bring answers to Robinson’s family?