On a summer afternoon, the sound of gunfire shattered the quiet of a high-rise apartment building on Oak Leaf Drive in Silver Spring, Maryland. When police arrived at the scene on July 2, 2021, they found two men on different floors, both suffering from gunshot wounds. One of the men, 25-year-old Patrick Davion Gafford, was rushed to a local hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The second man was treated for his wounds and survived.
Investigators at the scene recovered a handgun near Gafford and determined that a second handgun had also been fired during the incident. As the Montgomery County Police Department's Major Crimes Division delved into the case, a complex and tragic story began to emerge. Detectives concluded that Gafford had not been a random victim, but rather a participant in a robbery that had gone fatally wrong.
The investigation revealed that Gafford, along with another man, had arranged to meet the second shooting victim with the intention of robbing him. However, during the commission of the crime, shots were fired, and Gafford was struck. His accomplice fled the scene, leaving Gafford to be found by the responding officers.
Through their investigation, detectives identified the second suspect as 25-year-old David Johnell Eggleston Jr., of Oxon Hill. An arrest warrant was issued for Eggleston, charging him with first-degree murder, armed robbery, attempted first-degree murder, and the use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. On July 27, 2021, Eggleston was apprehended in Washington, D.C., and held for extradition to Montgomery County to face the charges related to the death of Patrick Davion Gafford.
