In the early morning hours of January 17, 2017, a burst of violence shattered the pre-dawn quiet on the 600 block of 14th Place, NE in Washington, D.C. Inside a parked white Kia Optima, 22-year-old Ronnell Tye Reaves, a male, sat in the driver's seat. Moments earlier, he and the driver of the vehicle, Matthew Moore, had walked into a nearby alley. When Reaves returned to the car, Moore followed, but his intentions had turned deadly.
At approximately 6:35 a.m., Moore opened the front
passenger door, leaned inside, and fired a handgun. He shot Reaves twice and then turned the weapon on the back-seat passenger, 23-year-old Kevin Kennedy, firing two more times. When police arrived at the scene, they found both men suffering from gunshot wounds. Ronnell Tye Reaves was pronounced dead at the scene. His companion in the car, Kevin Kennedy, was rushed to a hospital and later transferred to a long-term care facility, where he would succumb to his injuries over a year later on July 9, 2018.
The Metropolitan Police Department quickly began an investigation into the double homicide. Their efforts led them to 32-year-old Matthew Moore, who was arrested on February 6, 2017. Initially charged with second-degree murder while armed for Reaves' death, Moore was held without bond due to his criminal history and the perceived threat he posed to the community. Following the death of the second victim, police announced their intention to pursue additional charges against him.
In August 2018, Matthew Moore pled guilty to two counts of second-degree murder while armed. Despite a later attempt to withdraw his plea, a judge denied the motion. Moore, then 34, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the killings of Ronnell Reaves and Kevin Kennedy. His sentence would be followed by five years of supervised release.
