A bloody struggle on a Sunday afternoon left a young man dead in an alley behind his Northwest home. Several witnesses saw another man run from the scene of the crime. Nearly 20 years later, police are still trying to identify the attacker.
On Oct. 28, 1990, police found Leonardo Peyton on the 1100 block of M Street NW. The 29-year-old had been badly beaten, suffering repeated blows to his face and head. An autopsy the next day revealed multiple skull fractures.
Police say the victim was involved in the local drug scene, and they believe that connection led to his killing. But Peyton was also well-liked and -respected in the neighborhood, according to D.C. police Detective Jim Trainum.
Several witnesses said at the time that someone had been looking for Peyton to collect a debt. Witnesses also said they saw a man known around the neighborhood as “Ice” running from the scene of the crime that afternoon. Others recall the same man making remarks that link him to the case.
Figuring out the identity of “Ice” is the top priority in the case, said Trainum, who runs the city’s Violent Crime Case Review Project.
With nearly 4,000 open cases and only 13 detectives in the unit, the majority of old homicide cases are simply on hold.
In Peyton’s case, however, police hope forensic evidence collected at the crime scene will reignite the investigation.
“In this sort of blunt force trauma case, we often find that the offender hurt himself too,” Trainum said.
Police believe some of the blood found at the crime scene may belong to the killer. They hope to test evidence from the Peyton case within the next year.
Nineteen years after Peyton’s death, members of his family stay in touch with police, hoping for a break in the case. Peyton is survived by his sister, Debra, and brother, Michael, who is serving in Iraq.
Police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information in this case. Anyone with information is asked to call the Metropolitan Police Department’s Command Information Center at 202-727-9099.
