In the late hours of a November evening in Washington, D.C., a violent altercation cut short the life of 30-year-old Dawann Tyrik Saunders. On Monday, November 22, 2021, at approximately 10:17 p.m., police responded to reports of a shooting in the 4700 block of South Capitol Street, Southeast. Upon arrival, they discovered Saunders in a parking lot, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Despite the immediate response from DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Saunders showed no signs of life and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the death of the District Heights, Maryland resident soon revealed a dispute that had escalated to a fatal conclusion. Surveillance footage from a convenience store on the 4600 block of South Capitol Street, Southwest, captured the moments leading up to the shooting. The video showed Saunders in an altercation with another individual, later identified as 21-year-old Lloyd Patterson-Ross, amidst a group of people. The two men appeared to be involved in a transaction with a bag before the situation intensified, with at least two individuals brandishing handguns.
The tragic encounter culminated in a foot chase, during which Patterson-Ross shot Saunders multiple times. A second adult male was also found nearby at the intersection of South Capitol and Galveston Streets, Southwest, with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was transported to a local hospital. Less than a month after the incident, on December 20, 2021, authorities arrested Lloyd Patterson-Ross in connection with the shooting. Initially charged with first-degree murder, Patterson-Ross later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to a prison term ranging from 7.5 to 9 years, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Due to his age and lack of prior felony convictions, the judge granted a request for Patterson-Ross to be sentenced under the Youth Rehabilitation Act.
