In the winter of 2011, a New Carrollton, Maryland man's life was cut short in a violent encounter. On a Tuesday evening in January, police responded to a call reporting a break-in at a residence on the 7400-block of Riverdale Road. Upon their arrival, they discovered the body of 30-year-old Clyde Antwone Rosevelt Howard in front of the home. He had sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators believe that Howard, who resided only a few blocks away
from the scene of the incident, had shattered a window on the front door and was in the process of entering the home when he was shot by one of the occupants. The immediate assessment from law enforcement officials, including Major Andy Ellis of the Prince George's County Police, was that the shooting appeared to be an act of self-defense on the part of the resident.
The death of Clyde Antwone Rosevelt Howard was noted as the 12th homicide in Prince George's County that year. While authorities made arrests in several other homicide cases around that time, the available information regarding this specific incident does not indicate that any charges were filed against the individual who shot Howard. The initial belief that the resident acted to protect their home seems to have shaped the public narrative of the event, and there are no subsequent reports to suggest a different conclusion was ever reached by investigators. The case, as it was initially reported, highlights a tragic intersection of alleged property crime and lethal self-defense.
