Background: Hakeem Jones being arrested by law enforcement officers (WJLA/YouTube). Inset: Jamillah Gales (GoFundMe).
A man is accused of gunning down a woman in a Washington, D.C., alleyway after sharing that they were just going to the store.
Hakeem Jones, 28, has been charged with second-degree murder while armed in the death of 25-year-old Jamillah Gales, the Metropolitan Police Department announced. He is being held in jail without bond.
On Tuesday at about 10:52 p.m., police responded to the 600 block of Kenyon Street in Northwest Washington, D.C., to a report of a shooting. Officers found Gales "unconscious and not breathing, in the rear alley, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds."
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives learned that she was with her 2-year-old son "shortly before the shooting." The police department issued an Amber alert to find him, and they located him "unharmed" in a residence near where Gales was found dead.
Investigators say that inside that home were two additional leads.
Jones was there, police said, as was another man. Through their investigation, they "determined the additional adult male was not involved in the offense," but he did have remarks to make about what had transpired in recent days.
The witness said Jones had been staying in this apartment the past two days and that Gales stayed there "on and off," according to charging documents reviewed by area ABC affiliate WJLA. On the night of the shooting, the witness said Jones and Gales left the apartment to go to the store and asked him to watch the child.
Roughly one hour later, the witness said Jones reportedly returned to the residence without Gales, and he was told that the woman went to a different store.
Police said they recovered video footage showing Jones and Gales entering the alley. Moments later, the footage showed the "suspect take a shooting stance with his arms outstretched in the direction of the decedent, pointing what appears to be a firearm with a flashlight attached," court records state, per ABC affiliate WTOP.
The defendant reportedly shot Gales twice in the back. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive.
Jones is expected to appear in court on May 6.
A GoFundMe set up for Gales says "She was a devoted mother to her two-year-old son, who was truly her world" and that her family "is devastated by her sudden and tragic passing."
The fundraiser adds: "The shock and pain of losing her in such a violent way is overwhelming, especially for her little boy who now faces life without his mother."
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