On the night of May 3, 2024, a 20-year-old woman named Nyah Strong Hairston was driving her gray Nissan Versa in Hyattsville, Maryland. She was on her way home after leaving her job at UPS, a commute that should have been routine. Shortly before 10:45 p.m., however, her vehicle was found in a ditch off the southbound lanes of I-495 near Landover Road.
What was initially reported as a single-vehicle crash soon revealed a much more tragic reality.
First responders arriving at the scene found Nyah unresponsive inside her car. They were forced to break a window to get to her and begin life-saving measures. It was during this emergency aid that a single gunshot wound was discovered. Nyah was rushed to the University of Maryland Capital Regional Trauma Center, but tragically, she was later pronounced deceased. The investigation into her death quickly shifted from a traffic accident to a homicide.
For months, the case remained unsolved, leaving Nyah’s family desperate for answers. Investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit worked tirelessly, eventually getting a critical breakthrough with the help of the FBI. By analyzing cell phone data from the area on the night of the incident, authorities were able to identify a suspect.
In November 2025, it was announced that Dominec Proctor, a 28-year-old man from Glenn Dale, Maryland, had been charged with the first-degree murder of Nyah Strong Hairston. Investigators believe the motive for the shooting was a road rage incident. At the time the charges were announced, Proctor was already incarcerated in Virginia on unrelated matters. The arrest brought a measure of relief to Nyah's grieving family, who had been publicly pleading for any information that could lead to a suspect. While the legal process is still to unfold, the identification and charging of a suspect marked a significant development in a case that began as a mysterious roadside tragedy.
