On the evening of December 28, 2017, a tragic series of events unfolded, culminating in the death of 27-year-old Armani Nico Coles, a male custodian for the D.C. school system and a devoted father to his young son. Coles was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds, lying in the roadway at the intersection of Kenilworth Avenue and Eastern Avenue in Capitol Heights, Maryland, just across the D.C. line. Authorities believe he had been shot and then pushed from a moving vehicle.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival.
The investigation into Coles' death quickly revealed a complex and calculated plot rooted in revenge. His murder was not an isolated incident but was connected to two other homicides that occurred on the same day. Earlier that day, a man named Ronzay Green had been shot and killed in a 7-Eleven parking lot. The suspects in Green's death were friends with Coles and another victim, 23-year-old Kerrice Lewis. In retaliation, friends of Green, Malique Lewis and Marcel Vines, set out to find the man they believed was responsible for his death.
Their quest for vengeance led them to kidnap Kerrice Lewis, intending to use her as bait to lure out their intended target. When that plan failed, they contacted Armani Coles, believing he could lead them to the individual they were seeking. Coles was then kidnapped and forced into the backseat of a car, while Kerrice Lewis was confined to the trunk. As they drove and encountered traffic on Interstate 295, they shot Coles multiple times and pushed his body from the vehicle onto the highway shoulder. About an hour later, the assailants drove to a different location where they shot Kerrice Lewis numerous times before setting the car on fire with her body still inside the trunk.
The investigation led to the arrests of Malique Lewis and Marcel Vines. Evidence against them included fingerprints found on an item pushed out of the car with Coles' body, ballistics evidence linking the same two firearms to both murders, and surveillance footage of Malique Lewis driving Coles' stolen car the day after the killings. Lewis also reportedly bragged about the murders in text messages. In August 2024, a federal jury found both Malique Lewis and Marcel Vines guilty of more than two dozen charges, including kidnapping, conspiracy, and first-degree murder. In March 2025, both men were sentenced to life in prison plus 60 years for the revenge kidnappings and murders of Armani Coles and Kerrice Lewis. A third man, Ashton Briscoe, was also charged in connection with the murders.
