Two 19-year-old childhood friends from District Heights were killed in a stairwell ambush in Southeast Washington, D.C., on the evening of October 17, 2022. Davonte Aaron Berkely and Reginald Cooper Jr. had been working together at Restaurant Depot and went to the 1300 block of Congress Street SE, where a young man greeted them and led them into an apartment building. Surveillance footage reportedly captured a muzzle flash from the person who had greeted them.

Berkely was struck by four bullets to his back, torso, arm, and buttocks and died at a nearby hospital about three hours later. Cooper suffered eight gunshot wounds to the head, back, and torso and was pronounced dead at the scene. A third person was wounded in the leg. The mothers of both victims said they did not know why their sons were there or who would want to hurt them.

Months after the shooting, an arrest was reported and an individual from Bowie, Maryland, was indicted in October 2023 on charges including first-degree premeditated murder while armed and related firearms counts; the indictment alleges the suspect led the two friends into the stairwell while associates waited and all fled after the shooting.

Did anyone who knew Davonte or Reginald notice if they had recent contacts or plans that might explain why they were in that building?