21-year-old shot dead in DC neighborhood that abandoned his family – NBC4 Washington

A 21-year-old man was shot and killed in northeast DC early Thursday after visiting family and friends in the Deanwood neighborhood, according to his mother.

The victim was Marcellus Jackson.

He was Denise Wilson’s youngest son. She told News4 she just couldn’t believe it.

“I get up and think, ‘They didn’t say that. It’s like a dream in your head,'” she said.

Just after 3 a.m., officers responded to a shooting in the 4400 block of Hunt Place NE. Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene.

“What kind of person would take my baby away from me and for what?” his mother asked. “People don’t think about the fact that they are someone’s children, someone’s brother, someone’s cousin.”

Wilson said she and her family moved away from the neighborhood where her son was shot. Her house was shot at multiple times, she said.

Wilson said her son graduated from high school in 2021 and is working on finding more permanent employment.

She said Jackson was one of dozens of people injured at the Unifest street festival in Anacostia in 2007 when a driver plowed into a crowd.

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Wilson called on Mayor Muriel Bowser to listen to the views of Washington DC parents on the issue of crime.

“This is my baby,” she said.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact the police.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.