On the evening of July 4, 2020, 11-year-old Davon McNeal was killed in Anacostia, Washington, D.C., when a stray bullet struck his head during a nearby exchange of gunfire. Davon had been at an anti-violence cookout his mother organized; he was leaving to get ear buds and a phone charger when the shooting began. A sixth-grader at Kramer Middle School and a youth football player, he was described as having dreams of a professional career and of leaving the neighborhood.

Investigators charged four men in connection with the shooting: Carlo General, Marcel Gordon, Christen Wingfield, and Daryle Bond. All four later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed. In June 2022, three of the men were sentenced: Carlo General to 16 years, Marcel Gordon to 10 years, and Christen Wingfield to 9.5 years. Surveillance video shown in court reportedly captured one of the men running toward Davon and firing, with a bullet striking him in the head.

Davon’s mother worked as a violence interrupter in the city; the cookout had been organized as an anti-violence event. Does anyone have memories of Davon, details about the cookout, or information that could shed further light on what happened that night?