Kerry Odoms was 29 when he was killed on the evening of April 15, 2021, while socializing with a group in a parking lot in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. Another man in the group, 25-year-old Malachi McFarland, ran briefly, then returned and fired additional shots at Odoms. Odoms was struck eight times and was transported from the 3300 block of 10th Place, Southeast, to a hospital, where he died.

Investigators identified and arrested Smith and McFarland; both were charged in connection with Odoms’s murder. In October 2023 Smith and McFarland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed as part of a prosecutor agreement, and they were sentenced in February 2024. Odoms’s mother described a close personal connection to Smith during a victim impact statement, saying she had treated him like a son. The motive for the killing was not made clear during the proceedings.

If anyone knew Kerry, was at that gathering, or has information about what led to this shooting, please come forward.