In the late hours of a Sunday evening in Washington, D.C., the life of 33-year-old Mark Donnell Mosley was tragically cut short. On February 24, 2019, at approximately 10:05 pm, Mosley was shot and killed in the 600 block of 46th Place, SE. The male victim was found behind an apartment complex in the Southeast area of the city. His death marked another homicide in a year that was seeing a rise in violent crime.
The investigation into Mosley's death led to the arrest of a suspect,
23-year-old Roscoe Jones, who was subsequently charged with felony murder while armed. The prosecution's theory was that the killing occurred during an attempted robbery. Surveillance footage from the area showed Mosley walking before stopping and raising his hands as three individuals approached him. One of the individuals appeared to be holding a dark object that resembled a gun. A detective identified Jones as the person who approached Mosley first, holding the object.
Despite the arrest, the case against Jones faced potential complications. A witness who had reportedly placed Jones at the scene and described an argument where Mosley's jacket was taken, later planned to recant their statement to the police. Jones' defense attorney argued that the surveillance footage was not conclusive, claiming it skipped and did not actually depict a robbery. The defense also pointed to other possible leads that they alleged police failed to investigate, including potential connections between Mosley and a 2015 homicide, and information that Mosley had conflicts with other individuals in the area.
