Do you know who murdered James Burton? On the night of November 2, 2006, James Antonio Burton, a 27-year-old African-American man, was out on the Unit Block of Quincy Street NW in Washington, D.C., when his life was abruptly cut short. Born in Washington on March 31, 1979, he had grown into adulthood rooted in the same city, a beloved father to his child Andrea and a devoted son to Clayton Jones and Lorraine Burton, as well as a loving brother to Jamickia and John Burton.
His family circle extended outward to a niece, a nephew, and a wide network of aunts, uncles, other relatives, and friends who would soon be left to grieve a loss that came without warning.
That Thursday evening, at about 10:05 pm, gunfire shattered the routine of Quincy Street’s unit block. According to police accounts, Burton was shot there on the street; responding officers found him suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead a short time later, his final moments unfolding in the same city where he had been born and raised.
In the days that followed, the Metropolitan Police Department’s Violent Crimes Branch took over the investigation. Detectives released a printed reward flyer naming him as the victim, listing the exact time and location of the shooting and emphasizing that the department offered up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. The flyer urged anyone who knew anything about what happened on that block that night to come forward, reinforcing that the community’s help was crucial to solving the case.
Burton was laid to rest at Washington National Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland, a burial that marked a formal farewell but not an end to the questions surrounding his death. Online memorials remember him in tender terms, emphasizing his role within his family and the affection that surrounded him in life, while also fixing his dates — March 31, 1979 to November 2, 2006 — as a stark reminder of how brief his time was.
Years later, his name still appears on official lists of major unsolved homicides from 2006 maintained by the Metropolitan Police Department, and case summaries on cold-case and crime-solving sites continue to describe the killing as unsolved. Those summaries note that no one has been publicly identified or arrested in connection with his shooting, and the department continues to request tips from the public about who was responsible. In the record that survives, James Antonio Burton’s story remains that of a young man whose life was ended on a quiet block in Northwest Washington, with his family and community still left waiting for answers and accountability.
