Do you know who murdered Carlton Fisher? In the early hours of a Sunday morning, on October 1, 2006, the life of 23-year-old Carlton Fisher was tragically cut short. He was shot and killed in front of a residence at 1118 21st Street, NE, in Washington, D.C. The attack was brutal; Fisher sustained seven gunshot wounds, one to his head and six to his back, on the front porch of his home while his family, including his baby daughter, was inside.
Friends and family remembered Fisher as a 'good dude,' who was respectful, polite, and a loving father to his 10-month-old daughter.
The investigation into his death revealed a grim backstory of witness retaliation. Fisher had been cooperating with the government as a witness in another murder case. He had provided information to the police linking Terik McLeod to the 2004 shooting death of 17-year-old Devaun Drayton. McLeod had confessed to Fisher about killing Drayton over a stolen gun. When McLeod learned of Fisher's cooperation with law enforcement, he targeted him. The prosecution later argued that McLeod's message was clear: 'If you snitch on me, I'm going to kill you on your front porch, with your mother, sister and baby girl inside'.
The path to justice was a lengthy one. Terik McLeod was identified as the primary suspect in Fisher's murder. He was seen at a block party in the area on the night of the shooting with another individual who was also considered a suspect but has since died. The investigation further implicated a man named Lovell Harris as having assisted McLeod in the murder. McLeod's first trial for the murders of both Drayton and Fisher resulted in a hung jury. However, persistence from law enforcement and prosecutors led to a retrial.
In July 2019, a jury found Terik McLeod guilty of the first-degree murder of Carlton Fisher and the second-degree murder of Devaun Drayton. Subsequently, McLeod, then 33 years old, was sentenced to 52 years in prison for the two killings. While DNA and firearms evidence at the scene of Fisher's murder had been inconclusive, the testimony of multiple witnesses proved crucial in securing the conviction. A witness reported hearing shots from two different guns on the night of the murder, and while a. 357 caliber Magnum revolver allegedly used by McLeod was recovered, a second gun was not.
