In the spring of 2020, a dispute over a marijuana deal tragically cut short the life of 25-year-old Resha Blount, a female resident of Northwest D.C. On the afternoon of April 30th, police responded to a report of a shooting at an apartment building on New Jersey Avenue NW. Inside one of the residences, they discovered Ms. Blount unconscious, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Emergency medical services were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on 20-year-old Karlos Kinney of Southeast, D.C. Evidence revealed that Blount had arranged to purchase marijuana from Kinney, with text messages on her phone corroborating the planned transaction. An argument over the price of the drugs escalated, leading Kinney to fatally shoot Blount. Another woman present in the apartment at the time of the shooting reported that the assailant had pointed a gun at her and stolen her cellphone before fleeing.
Less than a week after the shooting, on May 5, 2020, members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended Karlos Kinney. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder while armed. In April 2024, Kinney pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed. In addition to the homicide charge, Kinney also faced legal trouble for an assault that occurred while he was detained, in which he stabbed another inmate. In June 2024, a judge sentenced Kinney to a total of 12 years in prison for both the killing of Resha Blount and the jailhouse stabbing. During the sentencing, Blount's family expressed their profound grief, with her mother stating, 'Karlos Kinney took the best part of me.'
