Ronald William Richardson Jr., 39, was found dead inside a Northeast Washington, D.C. residence on a Sunday in May 2018. Officers arrived about 11:15 a.m. in the 2300 block of 4th Street, Northeast, after a welfare check. He was discovered unconscious and unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds; EMS pronounced no signs of life at the scene.

The investigation lasted more than two years while the family waited for answers. His sister, Sirron Richardson, described the toll the unsolved killing took on their parents, who died before any arrest, and said Ronald had a difficult childhood that led him to the streets but that he was also fearless and athletic.

In December 2020 the Metropolitan Police Homicide Branch announced an arrest: 42-year-old Rasheed Young of Southeast, D.C., was taken into custody by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force. Young and Richardson had known each other since youth and reportedly had a long-standing rivalry. Young told detectives he shot Richardson in self-defense after a struggle during which a gun fell from Richardson’s pocket and was then used against him before Young fled the apartment.

Does anyone have information about Ronald’s life in Northeast D.C. or about the longstanding rivalry mentioned?