In the early morning hours of February 17, 2021, the sounds of gunshots shattered the pre-dawn quiet in the 1500 block of Butler Street, Southeast in Washington, D.C. Responding to reports of the gunfire at approximately 5:51 a.m., officers from the Seventh District arrived to a grim discovery inside an apartment building. There, they found 29-year-old Dalonte McLean, a resident of Southeast, D.C., suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Despite the immediate response from DC Fire and
Emergency Medical Services, Mr. McLean showed no signs of life and was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was later transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch launched an investigation into the killing, offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.
For over three years, the case remained under investigation. A significant breakthrough occurred on August 7, 2024, when a 21-year-old man from Oxon Hill, Maryland, was arrested and charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed in connection with Mr. McLean's death. A few months later, on November 7, 2024, the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested a second suspect. Twenty-eight-year-old Delonte Terrell of Brandywine, Maryland, was taken into custody under a DC Superior Court warrant and also charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed. Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive for the shooting or the connection between the suspects and the victim.
