In a quiet Reston, Virginia condominium community, a Sunday afternoon gathering turned deadly, leaving one man dead and several others facing serious felony charges. Rashad Kejuan Daye, a 24-year-old Black male from the Herndon area, was fatally shot on May 17, 2015, inside an apartment on Stoneview Square. The incident, initially reported as a home invasion, was later clarified by Fairfax County Police to be an attempted robbery that escalated into a violent altercation.
Daye was one of
five men present in the apartment of 22-year-old Kevin Baldwin that afternoon. According to police, Daye and three other visitors, identified as 22-year-old Eddie Rodriguez of Woodbridge, 18-year-old Dominique May of Reston, and 21-year-old Jalan Merrill of the Herndon area, attempted to rob the residents. During the ensuing struggle, a gun was fired, and Daye was struck and killed. Another man in Daye's group was grazed by a bullet.
Following an investigation, Rodriguez, May, and Merrill were arrested and charged with attempted robbery and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. None of the men were charged with Daye's death. Authorities determined that the resident of the apartment, Kevin Baldwin, was the shooter but acted in self-defense and therefore did not face any charges related to the shooting.
The legal proceedings for the three charged men moved through the court system. Jalan Merrill's case was ultimately not pursued by the prosecution, a legal action known as nolle prosequi. Eddie Rodriguez and Dominique May, who was a student at South Lakes High School at the time, were scheduled for further court appearances, with the decision on whether to proceed with their cases left to a Fairfax County Grand Jury.
