A Gaithersburg, Maryland-based victim’s rights group is adding to the reward money for information in the killing of a D.C. man who worked to prevent violence in his community.
Clarence Venable, 40, who worked as a “violence interrupter,” was shot and killed after he left a community meeting about violence in D.C. just over a week ago.
Now, the Victims Rights Foundation, is offering a $5,000 reward in an attempt to help get information that leads to an arrest in the case. Gregory Wims, president of the nonprofit, says that “somebody knows something” and that boosting reward money can often help generate tips.
Wims, explaining why his Maryland nonprofit wants to contribute in finding justice for the D.C. killing, said that Venable had been working to end the kind of violence that took his life.
“Here in Montgomery County, we just had an 18-year-old who was murdered just 10 minutes from this office in Gaithersburg,” said Wims. “So we are all working together to make sure that when we go into work as nonprofit workers, that we’ll be safe.”
Wims said his group also hopes to raise another $5,000 toward the reward fund.
D.C. Police are asking for the public’s help and offering up to $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Venable’s killing.
