D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty addressed teary-eyed friends, family and U Street community members gathered outside of the Frank P. Reeves Center Friday to mark the anniversary of the unsolved killing of Damon Ward.
A stray bullet struck and killed the 33-year-old architect and Arlington resident just a few blocks from the center as he left a friend’s birthday party at Duke’s City Jazz Club on Feb. 26, 2006. Police said shots were fired in a dispute over a parking space.
“This is not about drugs anymore,” Survivors of Homicide founder Julia Duncan said.
Duncan, whose son was gunned down 14 years ago, said she sees no end to the violence, especially with the ready availability of guns in bordering states. Friday also marked a deadline to “reduce crime and fear of crime by instituting a customized community policing program” from Fenty’s 100-day action plan, which outlines a number of reforms and improvements of District of Columbia services and government in the first 100 days of his administration.
Fenty praised the collaboration between the police department and each Ward neighborhood in finding criminals, and Council Member Jim Graham’s work in calling media attention to unsolved homicides.
“We know by shedding light on it, the government will work harder and the information will readily flow,” Fenty said.
Despite Fenty’s plan, Ward’s mother, Barbara Ward, is skeptical about the city’s progress in deterring crime since her son’s death.
“Look at the number of unsolved homicides,” Ward said. “[Valencia] Mohammed has a full page of unsolved homicides in D.C. It will make you cry. My son’s picture is on there.”
Valencia Mohammed, founder of Mothers of Unsolved Murders, lost two of her sons to gun violence — Imtiaz Mohammed in June 2004 and Said Mohammed in March 1999, at age 14. The mystery of Said’s death remains unsolved.
“Every year it’s growing,” Mohammed said. “So when [Barbara’s] son drops in the pile, it’s like an endless hole.”
Ward reflected on a son she described as the “best son in the world,” saying he was a model citizen whose love of children was so great he coached both boys and girls youth basketball teams when he lived in New Orleans.
Remaining is a $50,000 reward for information leading to Ward’s killer and one lead in the case: Someone heard one of the suspects speak Amharic, an Ethiopian language.
She pleaded for the surrounding Ethiopian community to work together to find her son’s killer.
“I hope you will not let my son die in vain,” Ward told the crowd. “This is America, and we are not safe in the nation’s capital.”
CONTACT INFO
» The District has 3,700 unsolved homicides dating back to 1968, according to Detective Jim Trainum of Metro police’s cold case unit. Contact the unit at 202-727-5037 if you have information on any unsolved violent crime.
