On the evening of February 19, 2016, a burst of gunfire shattered the night in Northeast Washington, D.C., tragically ending the life of 21-year-old Dante Lamont Brian Kinard. A male, Kinard was standing with a group of people in front of a convenience store in the 1800 block of Benning Road NE when the shots rang out at approximately 9:45 p.m. He was struck in the back and right thigh and succumbed to his injuries a short time later at a local hospital.
The investigation into the
shooting revealed a grim prelude to the fatal encounter. The origins of the violence traced back to an incident that occurred four days earlier, on February 15, 2016. On that night, Kenneth Adams and two others robbed a woman near the intersection of 21st Street and Maryland Avenue NE, issuing a threat that her brother would be their next target. After the woman informed her brother of the robbery and the threat, he confronted Adams and his associates.
This confrontation set the stage for the deadly events of February 19. At around 9:40 p.m., an armed Kenneth Adams, then 20 years old, made his way from 21st and Maryland to the area of 19th Street and Benning Road NE, accompanied by several other individuals from his neighborhood. In the parking lot, Adams raised a. 40-caliber revolver, aimed at the woman's brother who was part of the group that included Dante Kinard, and fired multiple times.
While the intended target escaped the barrage of bullets unscathed, Dante Kinard was not as fortunate. An unintended victim caught in the crossfire, he was fatally wounded. The Metropolitan Police Department launched an investigation that led to the arrest of Kenneth Adams on June 15, 2016. Following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, a jury found Adams guilty of first-degree murder while armed and related weapons offenses on November 19, 2018. He was sentenced for his role in the tragic death of Dante Lamont Brian Kinard.
