On the evening of Monday, October 30, 2023, tragedy struck in Southeast, D.C., resulting in the death of 23-year-old Melvin Dock Jr. of Southwest, DC. At approximately 9:01 p.m., officers from the Seventh District responded to reports of a shooting in the 4300 block of Halley Terrace, Southeast.
While en route to the scene, police were flagged down on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue by a man who had sustained gunshot wounds.
He was transported to a local hospital and was reported to be in stable condition. In a related development, police were notified of a second individual, Melvin Dock Jr., who had arrived at a local hospital with gunshot wounds. Despite medical efforts, Dock Jr. succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the shooting led to the identification of a suspect. On Thursday, February 22, 2024, members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 21-year-old Maleek Thomas of Southeast, DC, based on a DC Superior Court arrest warrant. Thomas was subsequently charged with First Degree Murder while Armed. Court documents later revealed that the incident that led to the shooting was an attempted carjacking of a white Infiniti. In a subsequent court hearing, Thomas was offered a plea deal, which he rejected.
