Two men face first-degree murder charges in the April shooting that killed two boys outside a Northeast D.C. convenience store, Metropolitan Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll announced Monday, Oct. 26.
Antonio Terry, 18, and Markell Woodings, 20, are each charged with first-degree murder while armed in the deaths of Tyale Coates, 14, and Mhilo Young, 12, according to WUSA9. The arrests came more than six months after the April 14 shooting in the 700 block of Kenilworth Avenue in Northeast.
"This is a tragic, tragic incident. These boys did nothing but go to a food truck," Carroll said at the news conference.
Carroll said the shooting was retaliatory, carried out in response to an incident in another neighborhood, Fox 5 DC reported. The boys were not the specific targets but were killed because of the neighborhood they were from, according to WTOP. Carroll said there does not appear to be any connection between the suspects and the two victims.
Court documents show a stolen black Honda Accord pulled into the parking lot of the Circle 7 Express store at 740 Kenilworth Ave. NE just before 3:30 p.m. on April 14, Fox 5 DC reported. Three masked men got out and fired dozens of rounds at a group standing in the lot before fleeing in the car, prosecutors said.
Coates died at the scene. Young was taken to a hospital and died the following morning.
Terry was arrested Sunday, Oct. 25, after patrol officers spotted him on H Street in Southeast, Carroll said. Woodings was taken into custody hours before the news conference on Monday, Oct. 26. During an initial court appearance, Judge Heide Hermann found probable cause against Terry and ordered him held without bond, Fox 5 DC reported. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 9.
Authorities have not released descriptions or identities for the third gunman who exited the car. Carroll said detectives are still investigating and seeking help from the community.
The convenience store's security cameras were not working at the time of the shooting, so detectives had no surveillance footage from the scene, Fox 5 DC reported. Carroll said community tips, social media communications between individuals and DNA evidence from shell casings collected at the scene all played a role in the investigation.
Coates was an eighth grader at KIPP DC Valor Academy. Young was a former KIPP student. The school described both boys as cherished members of its community in a statement after the shooting.
In coverage published by WUSA9 shortly after the April shooting, Coates' mother, Precious Coates, spoke at a vigil for her son. She was eight months pregnant at the time.
"I shouldn't be burying my first son while trying to give birth to my last," she said. "It wasn't a loss — they took my son."
Anyone with information can call MPD at 202-727-9099 or text 50411. A $25,000 reward is available for information leading to an arrest and conviction in each homicide.
