Larry Washington Jr

In a span of less than 24 hours in the autumn of 2015, a family in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was shattered by the violent deaths of two brothers. The tragedy that befell the Washington family began on Thursday, October 22, and ended the next day with the discovery of the body of 21-year-old Larry Devon Washington Jr., a Black / African American man, leaving a community in shock and a double-homicide case that remains unsolved.

The chain of events started when Larry's younger brother, 20-year-old Brandon Terrell Washington, was shot and killed inside a home on the 5000 block of Plaza Drive. Another man in the house, Mykell Montgomery, was also shot multiple times but survived his injuries. The violence did not end there. On the morning of Friday, October 23, 2015, police were called to East Wayne Street, where they made a grim discovery inside a parked SUV. Larry Washington Jr. and 16-year-old Anastasia LaShawn Butler, a student at South Side High School, were found shot to death. The Allen County Coroner's Office officially ruled their deaths as homicides.

Authorities from the Fort Wayne Police Department quickly announced that the three killings were connected, describing them as "targeted violence" and not random acts. The investigation into Brandon Washington's murder rapidly progressed. The surviving victim, Mykell Montgomery, identified the shooter to the police a few days after the attack. This led investigators to 24-year-old Hozyfa H. Sultan. On November 9, 2015, FBI agents and Gwinnett County Police officers located and arrested Sultan at a residence in Snellville, Georgia. He was extradited back to Indiana to face charges of murder for Brandon's death and attempted murder for the shooting of Montgomery.

During Sultan's trial in March 2017, Montgomery testified that Brandon Washington had invited Sultan to the house. According to Montgomery, Sultan arrived, asked if either of them had a gun, and when they said they did not, he opened fire. The jury found Hozyfa Sultan guilty on all counts. In May 2017, an Allen Superior Court judge sentenced him to a total of 110 years in prison: 60 years for the murder of Brandon Washington, 35 years for the attempted murder of Mykell Montgomery, and a 15-year enhancement for using a firearm in the crime.

Larry and Brandon Washington were sons of Brenda K. Bibbs and the late Larry Washington Sr. They left behind several brothers, Demetrius Bibbs, Qualyn Boone, and Raymond Bibbs. Friends and family mourned the loss of the two brothers in a joint obituary, sharing their heartbreak and prayers for the family. At the time of his death, it was reported that Larry Washington Jr. was awaiting a March trial for charges of robbery and criminal confinement from two separate cases.

While the conviction of Hozyfa Sultan brought a legal conclusion to the murder of Brandon Washington, the case of his older brother, Larry, and his young companion, Anastasia Butler, officially remains unsolved. At the time their bodies were discovered, the coroner noted that police had no suspects in their shooting. Despite the clear connection between the three homicides stated by police, no charges have ever been filed against Sultan or any other individual for the deaths of Larry Washington Jr. and Anastasia Butler. As of May 2017, their families are still waiting for answers and for justice to be served.