On the afternoon of May 3, 2018, 38-year-old Rondell Wills, a Black man from Southeast Washington, D.C., was on the 200 block of 50th Street in Northeast when a drive-by shooting occurred. Wills attempted to shield children from the gunfire and was struck in the neck. Emergency services transported him to a local hospital around 5:30 p.m., and he later died of his injuries. Investigators later determined Wills was not the intended target.

Authorities identified 19-year-old Eric Maurice Smith as the primary suspect and say he was the driver of the stolen vehicle used in the shooting. Court documents allege Smith’s fingerprints were found on the steering wheel and surveillance footage showed someone resembling him inside the car. Smith was arrested and charged with premeditated first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill against a minor; a judge denied release and he was held without bond. By October 2022, his release conditions were modified to allow phone check-ins while prosecution and defense planned further DNA testing.

Did anyone in Northeast D.C. see the vehicle or activity around 5:30 p.m. that day?