Do you know who murdered Reginald Winters? On a November evening in 1998, Reginald Eric Winters, a young man of 18, was fatally shot at the intersection of 17th and A Streets in Southeast Washington, D.C. The incident, which occurred on Monday, November 9th, also involved another man who was walking with Winters and was wounded but survived the attack. For years, the case remained a painful mystery for his family and the community that mourned him.
Reginald, known affectionately as 'Reggie,' was a recent graduate of Parkdale High
School. He was a vibrant young man with a passion for life, enjoying basketball and roller skating, and even holding a job at a local roller rink. A devoted fan of the Washington Redskins, he would often be found outside the stadium on game days, energetically playing his drums and adding to the festive atmosphere. His funeral was a testament to the lives he had touched, with four busloads of students from his high school in attendance to pay their final respects.
For over a decade, the question of who took Reginald's life and why went unanswered. The breakthrough in the case came from an unexpected source: a man already behind bars for other violent crimes. Ronald T. Brisbon, who was serving a lengthy prison sentence for two other murders, confessed to being the one who shot and killed Reginald Winters. In a statement to the police, Brisbon admitted to using a Ruger 9mm pistol in the shooting.
As part of a deal with prosecutors, Brisbon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Reginald Winters, one of five additional killings he admitted to committing in Southeast Washington between 1994 and 2000. While he implicated a friend in the non-fatal shooting of the man with Winters, he did not offer a motive for the senseless act of violence that cut short a promising young life. The confession, while bringing a measure of closure to the long-unsolved case, left Reginald's loved ones to grapple with the randomness of the tragedy.
