Mother’s shooting death in DC sparks search for child, who was found with her suspected killer

Missing toddler found safe, suspect arrested after fatal DC shooting

D.C. police have found a 2-year-old boy who was missing after his mother was fatally shot late Tuesday night.

Police said shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday that 2-year-old Royce Hawkins was found and had not been physically injured. An Amber Alert that had been issued earlier Wednesday morning was canceled.

Hawkins had last been seen just before 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 500 block of Kenyon Street NW. The child was with his mother at the time, according to police.

Later that night, just before 11 p.m., officers responded to a shooting in the 600 block of Kenyon Street NW. When they arrived, they found Hawkins’ mother, 25-year-old Jamillah Gales, in an alley suffering from gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

According to interim D.C. Police Chief Jeffery Carroll, Gales got into an argument in the alley with a man. The man then shot her and fled the scene.

Authorities were not able to located the child for hours after the shooting, prompting police to issue an Amber Alert.

Police found the child in an apartment in the 500 block of Kenyon Street NW with the man suspected of shooting Gales, according to police. That man is not the child’s father, police said, and has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Police have said they will name the suspect after they confirm his identity.

Below is a map of where the shooting occurred.

(Courtesy Google Maps)

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up