Background: An alleyway off the 3300 block of East Capitol Street, where the victim's body was found (WRC). Inset: Dalonte Jackson (Cedar Hill Funeral Home and Cemetery).
The family of a 35-year-old Washington, D.C., man who was found badly beaten in an alleyway before his death believes he was lured to an apartment where he was attacked.
The Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. is looking for the person or persons who killed Dalonte Jackson late last month. The agency is offering up to $25,000 for anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
On May 24 at about 4:30 p.m., police were called to an area off the 3300 block of East Capitol Street due to the report of an "unconscious person." Responding officers found a man — later declared to be Jackson — "who was unconscious but breathing and suffering from severe injuries."
Jackson was taken to a local hospital, but despite "all lifesaving efforts," he was pronounced dead five days later. An autopsy on June 3 revealed that he died from "multiple blunt force injuries."
His death was ruled a homicide, and detectives established he was attacked at an apartment on the 3600 block of Jay Street in Washington, D.C., about a nine-minute drive away from where he was found.
Jackson's family — shattered from the loss of their loved one — shared their own beliefs about what happened to him.
"For them to take his body from this area to East Capitol Street and dump him like waste in garbage?" Jackson's grandmother, Sharon Jones, told regional NBC affiliate WRC. "But someone, an angel, appeared there and called 911."
Family members believe Jackson was lured to the apartment on Jay Street and then attacked. They even suspect he knew he was in trouble — because he apparently texted a friend a disturbing message.
"He texts them and he basically said, 'I don't feel safe, and if … something happens, I am with X, Y,'" his aunt, Mottdricka Jackson, said.
A photo of the victim shared by his family after the attack showed him lying in a hospital bed with a neck brace, two swollen eyes, and multiple tubes going into his mouth.
"His skull was crashed, he was stabbed numerous times, his leg and his arm was broken," Jones told the local outlet. "Beat to death."
Dalonte Jackson's family stated their belief that he was killed because he was gay. Police, however, said there is "no evidence to show this was a hate-bias incident."
An obituary for the victim says he was "a beloved son who was loved and cherished by all who knew him and will be truly missed."