A 12-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter in the July 11 shooting death of 13-year-old Ahmad Mims in Northeast Washington, the Metropolitan Police Department announced.

Members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force located and arrested the suspect on Wednesday, Aug. 19, under a DC Superior Court custody order, according to DC News Now. MPD has not released the 12-year-old's name, consistent with DC juvenile justice practice.

The suspect appeared in DC Superior Court on Thursday, Aug. 20, and claimed the shooting was an accident, Fox 5 DC reported. Fox 5 reported the two boys were friends.

The July 11 shooting

On July 11 around 8:30 p.m., MPD officers responded to reports of a person down in the 1600 block of Rosedale Street NE. They found Mims on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound. DC Fire and EMS pronounced him dead at the scene.

Investigators determined the shooting occurred inside a nearby home, not on the sidewalk where Mims was found. A search warrant affidavit described a witness seeing a male dressed in black drag Mims from the house to the sidewalk, according to NBC Washington. Police recovered two firearms and 12 cartridge casings inside the home.

Doorbell camera video captured two young males standing in the hallway outside Mims' apartment before the shooting, NBC Washington reported. Ahmad's grandmother, Monica Mims, told the station that two young people knocked on the door to ask him to come outside that night.

"To, like, drag him out like a bag of trash, that just hurts me even more," Monica Mims told NBC4. "Like, a little boy that can think like that, to even drag someone outside after you shoot 'em."

Ahmad Mims was about to start eighth grade at KIPP Northeast Charter School. His grandmother described him as one of her favorites among her 10 grandchildren.

Witnesses told detectives Mims was killed for hitting the suspected shooter's sister, NBC Washington reported, though MPD has not confirmed a motive. His grandmother told Fox 5 DC that Ahmad had been in a fight at school in the weeks before the shooting.

What's next

The case remains under investigation. No next court date has been publicly announced.

Anyone with information can contact MPD at 202-727-9099 or submit an anonymous tip by texting 50411.