11-year-old boy killed in Southeast DC

An 11-year-old boy was killed after being shot in the head in Southeast D.C. Saturday night.

Davon McNeal was on his way to a cookout and stopped at his aunt’s house to pick up a phone charger, according to a Facebook post by his grandfather, John Ayala.

When he got out of the car and started heading toward his aunt’s building, he was struck in the head by a stray bullet.

He was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.

The shooting took place in the 1400 block of Cedar Street after 9:30 p.m. when a group of about five men was “shooting up in the area,” Police Chief Peter Newsham said.

McNeal attended Kramer Middle School in Southeast D.C. and played football. The school put out a tweet Sunday in honor of the boy reading, “We are saddened and heartbroken over the passing of our young king, Davon McNeal. Mighty Hornet, We will miss You!!”

There are no suspects at this time as detectives continue the investigation. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser took to Twitter on Sunday to ask for the public’s help in finding the shooters.

In a tweet, police asked the public to be on the lookout for a black sedan seen fleeing the scene through an alley.

Newsham said police will release more details and images to the public as the investigation continues.

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.

José Umaña

José Umaña is a digital editor for WTOP. He’s been working as a journalist for almost a decade, covering local news, education and sports. His work has appeared in The Prince George’s Sentinel, The Montgomery Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, PressBox and The Diamondback.

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

Sign up