On a Wednesday afternoon, July 10, 2019, tragedy struck inside a bustling Anacostia salon. Andre Cortez Broadie, a 22-year-old male from Northeast, D.C., was inside the New Creations salon on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast, when a group of individuals entered the establishment. The scene, occupied by four employees and five customers, quickly descended into chaos as a fight broke out around 3:30 p.m.
In the midst of the altercation, gunshots rang out, and Broadie was hit.
When police arrived at the 2100 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., Southeast, they found Broadie still conscious and breathing. Despite the efforts of D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services who responded to the scene, he succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter. Witnesses and surveillance footage captured four men fleeing the shop in the wake of the shooting. Investigators remained at the scene to collect evidence and check for fingerprints, recovering a car that had been shot up.
Friends and family remembered Andre Broadie as someone who was actively trying to turn his life around. He was a participant in the Violence Interrupters program, an initiative aimed at guiding young people away from street violence. His grandfather, who had helped raise him until he was 13, received the devastating news while on his way to work. He described his grandson as a 'good kid' who had gotten 'mixed up with the wrong people.' A mentor, reflecting on the senselessness of the act, questioned why someone so ruthless would take his life.
The investigation into the homicide progressed, and on Saturday, July 27, 2019, members of the Seventh District's Crime Suppression Unit made an arrest. Dalonta Jackson, a 22-year-old from Southeast, D.C., was taken into custody. He was subsequently charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed in connection with the fatal shooting of Andre Cortez Broadie.
