Police have arrested a suspect in connection to the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Davon McNeal at an anti-violence cookout in D.C. on July Fourth. Three suspects are still wanted, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday.
McNeal was shot and killed in Southeast D.C. last Saturday night after a community cookout that was organized by his mother, who is a violence interrupter for one of the contractors working with D.C.’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.
The suspect in custody is Daryle Bond, 18, of Southeast. He is charged with first-degree murder while armed. Bond has a criminal history.
The three other suspects that police are looking for are Christian Wingfield, 22, of Hillcrest Heights, Maryland; Marcel Gordon, 25, and Carlo General, 19, both of Southeast. They are wanted on warrants for first-degree murder while armed.
Police Chief Peter Newsham said the three suspects that are still at large have gun-related criminal histories.
Gordon has had two prior gun arrests, as well as several other charges.
General is under Maryland supervised probation and was arrested this past spring and charged as a felon in possession of a firearm.
Wingfield is currently under active intense supervision and pretrial high-intensity supervision with a curfew and GPS monitoring at the time of the shooting. He was arrested last spring as a felon in possession of a firearm and, like General, was released.
Police know that Wingfield cut off his GPS bracelet shortly after the shooting, and they believe he may have tried to change his identity, Newsham said.
On the question that Wingfield was released due to concerns about the coronavirus at the D.C. Jail, Kevin Donahue, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, said that the jail currently has zero positive cases of COVID-19.
“The jails have come a long way since the early part of the pandemic, and for Covid to be used as a reason to let someone violent out back on the street is … a request not based in fact, and I hope that request does not get accepted,” Donahue said.
Police are working on an arrest warrant for a fifth suspect.
The peace cookout had at least 20 children in attendance, and McNeal was helping his mother. Newsham said that it does not appear that McNeal and his family were the targets of the suspects.
McNeal’s grandfather John Ayala said he is with “great joy” and thanked the police, the mayor and the community.
“Everybody participated in trying to close this case … But of course, I’m still sad because I lost my grandson,” he said.
Police were flagged in the 1400 block of Cedar Street Southeast and found McNeal lying just outside his home in his mother’s arms, with a fatal gunshot wound.
“We are heartbroken and outraged by Davon’s murder,” Bowser said. She is asking the community’s assistance in finding the other suspects.
Anyone with information should call police at 202-727-9099.
