On a spring day in West Baltimore, the life of 43-year-old Chanette Neal was tragically cut short. On April 4, 2018, assailants forced their way into her home in the Penrose neighborhood shortly after noon. Both Neal and her 21-year-old daughter, Justice Allen, were shot and killed in what authorities quickly determined was not a random act of violence, but a targeted attack.
The initial investigation suggested that the perpetrators knew who they were looking for, though the motive was not immediately clear. The brutal nature of the crime, a double murder inside a family home, sent shockwaves through the community and left Neal's family heartbroken.
For nearly two years, the case remained unsolved, a constant source of pain for a grieving family. Investigators from the Baltimore Police Department and the FBI worked to unravel the mystery behind the slayings. They believed the murders were gang-related and in March 2020, the FBI announced a substantial reward for information that would lead to an arrest. Authorities took to the streets, distributing flyers and utilizing electronic billboards to bring renewed attention to the case, hoping that the financial incentive would compel someone with knowledge of the crime to come forward. All the while, Chanette's family waited for a breakthrough, grappling with the loss of a mother who would never meet her newborn grandchild.
A significant development in the case came with the federal conviction of a member of the Black Guerilla Family gang. It was revealed that this individual, acting as a hitman, had gone to Chanette Neal's residence on that fateful day with co-conspirators. Their intended target was one of Neal's relatives, a rival of a high-ranking gang member. When they did not find their target at the home, the assailants murdered both Chanette Neal and her daughter, Justice Allen. One of the men involved was later sentenced to 38 years in federal prison on a racketeering conspiracy charge that included his participation in the murders.
