In the daylight hours of a Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., 20-year-old Vincent Purvis, a male resident of Southeast, became the victim of a fatal shooting. On January 15, 2014, at approximately 3:29 p.m., police responded to the sounds of gunshots in the 600 block of Yuma Street, Southeast. Upon arrival, they discovered Purvis suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital in extremely critical condition and was pronounced dead later that evening.
The incident took place near the closed Ferebee-Hope Elementary School.
Witnesses reported a silver Impala driving in the area when someone from inside the vehicle fired multiple shots at Purvis, causing him to fall. When he attempted to get up, a car door opened, and he was shot again. Another witness saw a silver car, with its rear driver's side window shot out, fleeing the scene after the gunshots. Hours later, police located a 2013 silver Chevrolet Impala on fire about two miles from the crime scene. The vehicle, which had been rented in the name of Robert Osborne, had multiple gunshot wounds to its rear.
More than a week after the shooting, 41-year-old Robert Osborne of Rockville, Maryland, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed in connection with Purvis's death. Osborne, who is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair, denied any knowledge of the shooting. He claimed to have parked the rental car in a lot half an hour before the incident and spent the rest of the day with a female friend. However, police obtained phone records that placed Osborne's cell phone within 2,000 feet of the crime scene just minutes after the shooting.
Despite the initial arrest, the case against Robert Osborne did not proceed to a conviction. In October 2014, prosecutors dismissed the second-degree murder charge against him, citing insufficient evidence to move forward with the case. The investigation into the death of Vincent Purvis remained open. The shooting was described by then-Police Chief Cathy Lanier as 'brazen.' The Metropolitan Police Department offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide in the District of Columbia.
