On a late spring afternoon in Washington, D.C., 18-year-old Antwuan Roach was walking alone and unarmed in the Northeast quadrant of the city. It was Friday, May 22, 2020, at approximately 4:50 p.m. when his life was abruptly ended. As he made his way into an alley behind the 3800 block of East Capitol Street, a vehicle pulled in, and shots were fired, striking and killing the young man from Southwest, D.C. Emergency services responded to the scene, but Roach showed no signs of life and was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The investigation into the homicide led police to a suspect, Michael Mason, who was 16 years old at the time of the shooting. Detectives learned that Mason had tracked Roach to that location. The motive appeared to be rooted in a gang rivalry, with court documents revealing that Mason considered Roach a rival gang member.
The two had reportedly been involved in several verbal altercations while they were both in a juvenile detention center.
Less than a month after Roach's death, on June 17, 2020, Michael Mason was arrested. He was charged as an adult with first-degree murder while armed. In addition to the murder of Antwuan Roach, Mason was also charged with the killing of 21-year-old Brea Moon, which had occurred a month earlier in April 2020. According to court documents, Mason was part of the 'Avenue Crew of Simple City' street gang and was alleged to have conspired to assault and kill the crew's adversaries.
In September 2025, Michael Mason, then 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder while armed for the deaths of both Antwuan Roach and Brea Moon. As part of a plea deal, other charges were dismissed. On October 31, 2025, a Superior Court judge sentenced Mason to 28 years and eight months in prison for the two murders. The resolution of the case brought a measure of closure to the violent end of a young man's life on a street in the nation's capital.
