In the late summer of 2019, the life of Dominique Rontae Franklin, a 16-year-old male from Southeast Washington, D.C., was tragically cut short. On the morning of Friday, August 30, police and emergency services responded to a call about an unconscious person in the 200 block of M Street, Southwest. Inside an abandoned public housing unit, they discovered Dominique's body, bearing multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The discovery was reportedly made by construction workers in the area who then alerted the authorities.
The investigation into the homicide was immediately complicated by the fact that a surveillance camera positioned right outside the apartment where he was found was not operational at the time of the incident. This left investigators without crucial potential evidence. It was also revealed that Dominique had been reported missing on August 14, more than two weeks before he was found deceased. He was reportedly found on August 28, only to be killed two days later. Friends and family remembered him as a young man with a good head on his shoulders, and his death sent shockwaves through his community.
Months later, detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch announced a breakthrough in the case. On Wednesday, January 8, 2020, authorities arrested 17-year-old Jwhan Simpson of Gaithersburg, Maryland, pursuant to a D.C. Superior Court arrest warrant. Simpson, described as a Black male, was charged as an adult with First Degree Murder while Armed for his alleged role in Dominique Franklin's death. The police had previously offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
