In the early moments of September 10, 2019, just after midnight, the sound of gunshots broke the quiet in the 3000 block of 24th Place SE in Washington, D.C. Responding to the alert, Metropolitan Police Department officers canvassed the area and discovered a young man suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim was identified as 16-year-old Steffen Brathwaite, a ninth-grader at Ballou High School.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital for his life-threatening injuries, but succumbed to them and was pronounced dead hours later. His mother described him as a straight-A student with a passion for football who dreamed of going to college.
For more than three years, the case remained unsolved, leaving Steffen's family to grapple with their loss without answers. Then, on January 6, 2023, a significant breakthrough came when members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 22-year-old Bernard Eddy of Suitland, Maryland, in connection with the fatal shooting. Eddy was subsequently charged with first-degree murder while armed. The arrest brought a renewed focus on the investigation and the beginning of a long journey through the court system for Steffen's loved ones.
During legal proceedings, details of the investigation and the alleged motive behind the killing began to emerge. Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Eddy approached Steffen, who was walking alone on his way to a friend's house, and fired multiple shots from a 9mm handgun before fleeing on foot. A key piece of evidence was a 15-second video recovered from Eddy's cell phone just eight days after the murder. Recorded about three hours after the shooting, the video reportedly showed Eddy celebrating Steffen's death. Testimony during the trial also pointed to a possible revenge motive, with a former girlfriend of Brathwaite's claiming he had been involved in the killing of a 15-year-old named Gerald Watson, who was known to Eddy.
On April 22, 2025, a jury found Bernard Eddy guilty of second-degree murder while armed and related weapons offenses. Though the prosecution had sought a 31-year sentence, on July 11, 2025, Eddy was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of Steffen Brathwaite. Throughout the process, Eddy maintained his plea of not guilty. His defense attorney had argued that another individual, who was deceased by the time of the trial, was the actual shooter and that the case against Eddy was built on supposition. Despite these claims, the court found probable cause to proceed with the case against Eddy, leading to his eventual conviction and sentencing.
