On the sweltering summer night of Friday, July 18, 2008, Keith Ricardo Hines, a 29-year-old man, was trying to escape the heat on the porch of his Washington, D.C. home. It was there, in the 900 block of Allison Street, NW, at approximately 11:34 p.m., that his life was abruptly ended by a fatal gunshot to the head. An unknown person had walked up to his porch and fired the deadly shot, leaving a void in the lives of those who knew him.
Hines was a man who had navigated a troubled past, including time in prison, but had since dedicated himself to a remarkable path of self-improvement and community service. He was working as a teacher's assistant with special-education students, leading a men's group, and serving on the board of a charter school he had once attended. His ultimate ambition was to become a lawyer, a dream that was tragically extinguished.
Friends and colleagues remembered him as a man with a big smile and a frankness about his past, determined to give back to the community he had once taken from.
In the months before his murder, Hines had confided in his boss about a problem in his neighborhood, referencing an 'old issue' with someone that had him concerned. Despite these worries, he remained in the area to care for his mother. The Metropolitan Police Department has been investigating his death as a homicide and has offered a reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. However, to this day, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been publicly identified in the shooting death of Keith Ricardo Hines, leaving his case unsolved and his family still waiting for justice.
