A Suitland family whose 8-month-old baby was shot to death Wednesday night may have been targeted because they witnessed a homicide in the District of Columbia Sunday night, sources close to the investigation said.
Anthony Maurice Savoy Jr. was in stable condition Thursday after being hit by two of the more than a dozen bullets that flew from an AK-47 assault rifle in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the 6200 block of Shadyside Avenue around 9 p.m. Wednesday, Prince George’s County police said. His son, Anthony III, was killed instantly by a bullet that struck his head.
According to police and witnesses, Anthony’s father was putting him in a car seat in a blue minivan when the shooter opened fire from less than 20 feet away.
The mother was inside the family’s nearby apartment at the time and came running out screaming, neighbors said. She pulled Anthony from the car seat, but he was already dead. The father is expected to survive, police said.
Sources said investigators believe the mother and father were targeted because they witnessed a shooting on the 100 block of 46th Street Northeast around 1 a.m. Sunday. District police have not yet identified the victim, a young woman who was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
District and Prince George’s police exchanged notes on the cases Thursday.
James Brown, 27, was arriving home from work when he witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. The mother was wailing and holding her son, he said. A red truck was parked a few feet from the minivan and shattered glass was scattered about the van.
“It was a monstrous thing,” Brown said. “This world is becoming a hell. The devil is loose and out to devour people every day.”
Neighbors said the apartment complex has had problems with drugs being sold in the parking lot and cars being stolen.
Thursday morning, Joe Brown, a parent who lives nearby, became the first to set up a memorial for Anthony. He placed two stuffed animals donated by his 9-year-old daughter, Tania, on a wood fence that backs the parking lot, an act he’s repeated frequently for fallen children.
“We’re starting to run out of stuffed animals,” he said.
Anyone with information should call 866-411-8477.
