Hakeem Jones was initially charged with second-degree murder while armed in Jamillah Gales’ death.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A murder case tied to a Northwest Washington alley shooting was upgraded after prosecutors charged Hakeem Jones with first-degree murder while armed in the death of 25-year-old Jamillah Gales.
The new charge came after police first announced a second-degree murder while armed charge against Jones, 28. A D.C. Superior Court judge found probable cause and ordered him held without bond. Prosecutors said the case includes surveillance video, a witness who watched Gales’ 2-year-old son and clothing found after Jones’ arrest. Defense counsel argued that the video does not prove Jones was the shooter. The next hearing is scheduled for May 6, when the case is expected to move further into the pretrial process.
The detention issue was shaped partly by Jones’ record. Prosecutors said in court that he had two prior convictions for unlawfully carrying a firearm and was on parole for one of them. They said he had been released from jail March 6, roughly six weeks before Gales was killed. Those facts were raised as the government asked the court to keep Jones in custody. Jones’ attorney pushed back on the strength of the evidence, saying the person seen in surveillance footage wore a black ski mask and that the items found in the apartment did not establish Jones’ identity as the shooter. The judge’s probable-cause finding allowed the case to proceed, but it did not decide guilt.
Police said the shooting was reported at about 10:52 p.m. April 21 in the 600 block of Kenyon Street NW. Officers found Gales in a rear alley, unconscious and not breathing, with apparent gunshot wounds. D.C. Fire and EMS responded and tried lifesaving measures, but Gales was pronounced dead at the scene. The police department later identified her as a 25-year-old woman of no fixed address. Detectives learned that Gales had been with her 2-year-old son shortly before she was killed. Because the child was not immediately located, police issued an Amber Alert early the next morning. The alert added urgency to a case that already involved a homicide scene.
The child was found unharmed shortly before 11 a.m. April 22 in a residence near the scene. Jones and another adult man were inside, police said. Investigators determined the other man was not involved in the offense. Court records later described that man as a witness who said Gales and Jones had left an apartment that night to go to the store and asked him to watch the child. About an hour later, the witness said Jones returned without Gales. The witness said he was told Gales had gone to another store. The witness notified police after hearing that an Amber Alert had been issued. Authorities have said Jones is not the boy’s father.
Prosecutors said video from a nearby residence showed the suspect and Gales entering the alley. According to court records, the footage appeared to show the two arguing before the shooting. The records said the suspect took a shooting stance, extended his arms toward Gales and pointed what appeared to be a firearm with a flashlight attached. Police said Gales was shot twice in the back, once in the upper left back and once in the lower left back. Prosecutors said the person in the footage matched Jones by height and weight. They also said a duffel bag and a black hoodie found in the apartment were consistent with items worn by the shooter in nearby security videos.
The defense challenge is likely to matter as the case advances. Jones’ attorney argued that the video evidence does not identify him and that he was not living in the apartment where items were found. No public record released so far says police recovered the firearm. Police have not released the surveillance footage publicly. The motive remains unknown. Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said investigators were still working to determine the relationship between Jones and Gales and why the shooting happened. Those unanswered questions leave the early prosecution centered less on motive and more on whether the government can connect Jones to the person shown in the alley footage.
The first-degree murder while armed charge raises the legal stakes beyond the charge police first announced. In general, first-degree murder requires prosecutors to prove a higher level of planning or intent than second-degree murder. The government’s decision to file the more serious charge came quickly, before Jones’ next scheduled court date. The court record at this stage shows a case built from several pieces rather than a confession or a publicly identified eyewitness to the shooting itself. Those pieces include the witness account from the apartment, the Amber Alert recovery, the video, the clothing comparisons and the prosecution’s description of Jones’ prior firearm convictions and parole status.
Gales’ family has described the loss in personal terms. A fundraiser organized by her cousin, Tahmia Farmer, said Gales was a devoted mother to her 2-year-old son and that her family was devastated by her sudden death. Farmer wrote that Gales was more like a sister to her and said the family was seeking help with funeral expenses and support for the child. The fundraiser had raised more than $3,000 toward a $10,000 goal after the killing. The family statement said relatives were still trying to understand the circumstances. It stood beside the official record as a reminder that the court case began with the death of a young mother.
The Kenyon Street shooting also shows how fast a local homicide investigation can broaden. Within about 12 hours, police moved from a shooting call in an alley to an Amber Alert, a child recovery, an arrest and a murder charge. The court process will move more slowly. Prosecutors must now preserve and present the video evidence, support the identification, account for the physical items recovered and answer defense claims that Jones was not the masked person in the footage. Investigators also must decide whether additional evidence can explain motive or clarify what happened before the shooting.
Police have not announced a motive, and no trial date has been set in the fatal shooting of Jamillah Gales. Jones remains held without bond ahead of his May 6 court appearance.
Author note: Last updated May 19, 2026.