In Washington, Hakeem Jones is being held without bond after prosecutors upgraded the charge in Jamillah Gales’ death.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Prosecutors say video from a Northwest Washington alley shows the moments before Jamillah Gales, 25, was shot and killed April 21 after leaving an apartment with Hakeem Jones, who is now jailed without bond.

The case moved quickly from a late-night shooting call to a murder charge, an Amber Alert and a court order keeping Jones, 28, in custody. Police first charged him with second-degree murder while armed, but prosecutors later filed a first-degree murder while armed charge. A D.C. Superior Court judge found probable cause Thursday and ordered Jones held as investigators continued to examine the motive and the relationship between Jones and Gales.

Police said officers were called at about 10:52 p.m. April 21 to the 600 block of Kenyon Street NW for a reported shooting. They found Gales unconscious and not breathing in a rear alley with apparent gunshot wounds. D.C. Fire and EMS crews responded, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators later said Gales had been with her 2-year-old son shortly before the shooting. The child was not found at the scene, setting off an early-morning Amber Alert that widened the case beyond the alley and into a nearby apartment. Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the investigation was still focused on why the shooting happened and what connection Jones and Gales had before the killing.

The evidence described in court records begins inside that apartment, where a witness said Gales had been staying and where Jones had also been staying on and off. The witness told police that Gales and Jones left the apartment that night to go to the store and asked him to watch the toddler. About an hour later, the witness said, Jones returned without Gales. The witness said he was told Gales had gone to another store. That statement became important because police later reviewed video from the area and said it showed Jones and Gales entering the alley before the shooting. Prosecutors said the footage appeared to show an argument before the gunfire. Jones’ attorney challenged that claim in court, saying the person seen in the footage was wearing a black ski mask and that the video did not prove the person was Jones.

Prosecutors said the video shows a suspect taking a shooting stance, extending both arms toward Gales and pointing what appears to be a gun 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. Clothing items and a black bag found in the apartment where Jones was arrested were similar to items seen on the suspect in security video, according to charging records described in court. Prosecutors also said the person in the footage matched Jones by height and weight. The defense disputed the link, arguing that the items found in the apartment did not connect Jones to the shooting and that he was not living there. Police have not said they recovered the gun used in the killing.

The missing-child search ended the next morning inside a residence near the homicide scene. Police said the toddler was found unharmed shortly before 11 a.m. April 22, and the Amber Alert was canceled. Jones and another adult man were inside that residence when officers arrived. Police said investigators determined the second man was not involved in the offense. The child’s location became part of the timeline because the witness who was watching him told police he notified authorities after seeing news of the Amber Alert. Authorities said Jones is not the child’s father. The child’s recovery changed the public emergency into a homicide prosecution, with police shifting from the search for the toddler to the evidence linking Jones to the alley shooting.

Gales was identified by police as a 25-year-old woman of no fixed address. A memorial fundraiser organized by her cousin, Tahmia Farmer, described Gales as a devoted mother whose 2-year-old son was her world. Farmer wrote that she grew up with Gales and considered her more like a sister. The fundraiser said the family learned that Gales had been shot multiple times in an alley in D.C. and was trying to cover funeral expenses while also supporting her son. The page had raised more than $3,000 toward a $10,000 goal in the days after the killing. The family account added a personal view to a case otherwise described mostly through police statements, charging records and a short court appearance.

The court hearing also brought Jones’ criminal record into view. Prosecutors said 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, about six weeks before Gales was killed. Those details were raised as the government argued for detention. Jones was ordered held without bond after the judge found probable cause. Police initially announced a second-degree murder while armed charge, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia later filed the first-degree murder while armed charge. The change raised the stakes of the case while leaving major questions open, including motive and whether investigators would recover additional forensic evidence.

The Kenyon Street case drew attention in part because it joined three urgent threads in less than 24 hours: a woman found dead in an alley, a toddler missing after his mother’s killing and a suspect located in a nearby home. The 600 block of Kenyon Street NW sits in a dense part of the city where alleys, rowhouses and apartment buildings can place private movement within reach of security cameras. In this case, prosecutors leaned heavily on video, witness statements and clothing comparisons at the first court stage. Police have not released a detailed public account of the full video, and the defense has signaled that identity will be a contested issue.

Jones is expected to return to court May 6. Until then, he remains held without bond while prosecutors prepare the case and police continue their investigation. Gales’ son was found unharmed, but the records released so far do not say who has custody of him now.

Author note: Last updated May 19, 2026.