In the afternoon hours of December 18, 2024, in Capitol Heights, Maryland, a life was tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence. Rakib Rakib, a 31-year-old male employee of a local convenience store, was diligently attending to his duties, a routine task that would unexpectedly place him in harm's way. He had stepped outside into the 6700 block of Walker Mill Road to take out the trash, a mundane part of his workday that soon turned into a scene of a brutal crime.
As Rakib went
about his work near a dumpster, he was confronted by an assailant. The armed individual, later identified as 25-year-old Geonte Maurice McNeil-Williams of Upper Marlboro, approached Rakib and demanded his property. In the course of the robbery, McNeil-Williams fatally shot the convenience store worker. First responders arrived at the location to find Rakib unresponsive, having sustained a gunshot wound to the forehead. He was pronounced deceased at the scene at approximately 3:10 PM. The preliminary investigation suggested that the victim and the suspect were not known to each other.
The investigation into the homicide moved swiftly, aided by surveillance footage that captured the harrowing encounter. The footage showed a man in a gray hoodie, black face mask, and light jeans approaching Rakib with a handgun. After taking an item from Rakib's pocket, the suspect shot him before fleeing the scene on foot. Investigators recovered three 10-mm shell casings at the location, and the victim's phone was discovered about a mile away. A significant breakthrough came when two individuals, concerned that their son might be involved, came forward after seeing the surveillance images. They identified the man in the video as Geonte Maurice McNeil-Williams, noting that he suffered from bipolar disorder and had not been taking his medication.
Based on the evidence and the identification, police arrested Geonte McNeil-Williams. He has since been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, armed robbery, and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. McNeil-Williams was taken into custody and is being held at the Department of Corrections.
