On a cold December evening in Washington, D.C., a routine patrol turned into the discovery of a heart-wrenching tragedy. Just before 10 p.m. on Sunday, December 28, 2014, a Metropolitan Police Department officer in the 1300 block of Southern Avenue SE, near a local hospital, stumbled upon a grim scene. Lying on the ground outside a vehicle was 71-year-old Preston Cornelius Johnson Sr.
of Capitol Heights, Maryland, suffering from a fatal gunshot wound.
The officer's concern grew as a further inspection of the vehicle revealed another victim. Inside the car, the officer found the body of 49-year-old Preston Cornelius Johnson Jr. of Suitland, the son of the man lying outside. He too had been shot. Both father and son, a male duo found together in the final moments of their lives, were pronounced dead at the scene. The quiet residential street was suddenly alive with the flashing lights of police cars as an investigation into the double homicide began, shutting down Southern Avenue in both directions.
In the days that followed, the police investigation sought to piece together the events that led to the violent deaths of the father and son. A reward of $25,000 was offered for any information that could lead to an arrest and conviction of those responsible. However, despite the public appeal for assistance, no information on any potential suspects was immediately released. The case of the shooting deaths of Preston Cornelius Johnson Sr. and his son has remained a somber and unsolved chapter in the city's history, with no arrests made or suspects publicly identified in connection with the tragic loss of two generations of a family in a single night.
