Arsenio Cleckley, a 37-year-old man from District Heights, Maryland, was a father whose life ended violently in the fall of 2026. Remembered by his family and friends, his death left his loved ones seeking answers and justice. Details of his life, including his past struggles with the law, paint a complex picture of the man who was killed inside a suburban Maryland home.
In the quiet, pre-dawn hours of Sunday, September 27, 2026, a call reporting a shooting sent Prince George's County
Police officers to a residence in Clinton. They arrived at a home on the 10700 block of Piscataway Road around 1:15 a.m. Inside, they discovered Arsenio suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Emergency responders immediately began administering life-saving measures, but his injuries were too severe. Arsenio Cleckley was pronounced dead at the scene.
The department’s Homicide Unit launched an investigation and quickly determined that the fatal shooting was not a random act. Within a day, police announced a significant development: they had identified everyone involved in the incident. According to investigators, all the individuals present at the time of the shooting, including Arsenio, knew one another. This revelation suggested the conflict was internal, though authorities did not publicly comment on a possible motive or the specific nature of the relationships between those involved.
Despite identifying the parties, police did not immediately make an arrest or file charges. Instead, they stated that detectives were working in consultation with the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office. This step indicated that prosecutors were carefully reviewing the evidence and the circumstances of the shooting to determine whether criminal charges were warranted. The police did not release any further information about what transpired inside the home that led to the deadly gunfire.
Public records revealed that Arsenio had a history with the justice system. A 2020 news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland, detailing the sentencing of a co-conspirator, referred to Arsenio as a "major narcotics trafficker in Maryland and Washington." In that federal case, he had pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to distribute significant quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. According to court documents, Arsenio, then 32 and living in Accokeek, was involved in negotiating and carrying out drug transactions. He and several co-defendants pleaded guilty for their roles in the drug distribution network.
In the wake of his sudden death, Arsenio’s family gathered to say their final goodbyes. A viewing was held for him on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at a funeral home in Baltimore. The following day, a funeral service was conducted at Faith Temple No. 2 Baptist Church in Capitol Heights, Maryland, where loved ones mourned his passing. He was subsequently interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland.
As of late September 2026, the investigation into Arsenio Cleckley’s homicide remained open, pending the final determination from the State's Attorney's Office regarding potential charges. The lack of an immediate arrest left his family and community with unanswered questions about the final moments of his life. The Prince George's County Police Department has asked anyone with information pertinent to the case to contact the Homicide Unit at 301-516-2512.
