On the night of Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at about 9:30 p.m., officers from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Seventh District responded to the 2600 block of Stanton Road SE in the Barry Farm neighborhood after reports of a shooting. They found 38-year-old James Lee Curtis of Southeast, D.C., suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead.

D.C. Homicide detectives led the investigation. Less than a month later, on Monday, May 30, 2022, police arrested 19-year-old Ethan Cunningham of Baltimore and charged him with first-degree murder while armed – felony murder – in connection with Curtis’s death. The department had earlier offered up to a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Anyone who knew James Lee Curtis or has information that could help the ongoing investigation is asked to come forward.