In the early morning hours of February 22, 2020, a male named Stanley Gaskins Jr., aged 52, was shot and killed in Clinton, Maryland. The incident occurred around 1:05 a.m. in the 7400 block of Old Alexandria Ferry Road, where police responded to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers discovered Gaskins and another man outside, both suffering from gunshot wounds. Gaskins, a resident of Washington, D.C., was pronounced dead at the scene.
The second victim was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and survived.
For several months, the case remained under investigation. Prince George's County homicide detectives worked to identify a suspect and determine a motive for the shooting, stating early on that they did not believe it was a random act. Their investigation led them to identify 52-year-old Gerald Edwards, also from Washington, D.C., as the suspected shooter.
In October 2020, more than seven months after the fatal shooting, Gerald Edwards was arrested and taken into custody in Washington, D.C. He was subsequently charged with first and second-degree murder, as well as other related charges, in connection with the death of Stanley Gaskins Jr. Following his arrest, authorities reported that Edwards confessed to his involvement in the shooting, stating that it stemmed from an argument.
