Do you know who murdered Antonio Jenkins? In the midst of a summer afternoon, the life of 21-year-old Amari Jenkins was violently cut short. On August 18, 2015, just after noon, Jenkins was on the front lawn of St. Luke Catholic Church on East Capitol Street in Washington, D.C., when a blue Honda Odyssey pulled up. Two men, their faces obscured by masks and hands covered in blue latex gloves, emerged from the vehicle and immediately began firing at Jenkins as they ran towards him.
The young man collapsed near a statue of Jesus, where the gunmen stood over him and continued to shoot, firing a total of 28 rounds. The brazen daytime shooting at a place of worship sent shockwaves through the community and highlighted a spike in homicides that year, prompting concern from residents and city officials alike.
For more than two years, the case remained a painful open wound for Jenkins' family and the city. His mother's public display of grief at the crime scene, where she was embraced by the police chief, became a poignant symbol of the city's struggle with violence. Investigators later determined that the shooting was part of an ongoing and violent turf battle between neighborhoods. The breakthrough in the case came in December 2017, when authorities announced the arrests of Rondell McLeod, 24, and Joseph Antonio Brown, 27. Both men were already incarcerated, awaiting trial for another 2015 killing. Police pieced together a deadly back-and-forth rivalry that led to at least three deaths. An indictment revealed that McLeod and Brown had been tipped off that Jenkins would be at the church for a class. The motive appeared to be retaliation for a prior incident where Jenkins had allegedly shot at Brown.
In September 2023, justice for Amari Jenkins finally saw its day in court. Joseph Brown, then 33, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed. His accomplice, Rondell McLeod, 30, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. The pleas confirmed the details of that tragic day, with both men admitting to emerging from the van and firing 28 rounds at Jenkins. Their sentencing was scheduled for December 2023, bringing a measure of closure to a case that had so deeply affected the city. Brown also pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the separate killing of 29-year-old Antwan Baker, which occurred just a few months after Jenkins' death.
On a late winter afternoon, violence once again erupted on the streets of Washington, D.C., claiming the life of 22-year-old Antoine Jenkins. On Monday, March 14, 2022, at approximately 3:22 pm, gunshots rang out in the 700 block of 13th Street, SE. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered Jenkins and 62-year-old Antwan Brown suffering from gunshot wounds. Both men succumbed to their injuries.
The investigation into the double homicide led to an arrest two months later. On May 12, 2022, police took 27-year-old Raymond Khalil Jones into custody. He was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder while armed for the deaths of Jenkins and Brown. By January 2023, Jones was still on release under a high-intensity supervision program with an ankle monitor, and the legal proceedings were ongoing. The prosecution had extended a plea offer to Jones, and the case was scheduled for further hearings to determine an indictment date.
