In the early morning hours of December 14, 2021, a man by the name of Jacques Russ was on his way to work in Washington, D.C. At 44 years of age, the male resident of Northeast D.C. was going about his morning routine when he was confronted in the unit block of 61st Street, Northeast. It was there, at approximately 6:50 a.m., that his life was cut short by a single gunshot wound to the head. A passerby discovered his body lying in the street a short time later.
When police and emergency personnel arrived, they found him unconscious and unresponsive. Despite their efforts, no signs of life were detected, and he was later transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner.
The investigation into the death of Jacques Russ led detectives to seek the public's help in identifying a person of interest captured on a nearby surveillance camera. In early March 2022, a significant breakthrough occurred in the case. The Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, acting on a D.C. Superior Court arrest warrant, apprehended 21-year-old Jamaarr Terrell Morgan of Hyattsville, Maryland. He was initially charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the fatal shooting.
In July 2023, Jamaarr Morgan, then 23, accepted a plea agreement. In exchange for having other charges dismissed, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed. During the sentencing, a poignant statement from the victim's mother was shared, expressing the profound loss of her first-born son. In February 2024, a judge sentenced Morgan to 12 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for his role in the death of Jacques Russ.
