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Mother, her 2-year-old daughter dead in shooting in Prince George’s County Teacher, 2-year-old daughter are fatally shot in Prince George’s County
(about 7 hours later)
A mother and her 2-year-old daughter are dead after a shooting in the Fort Washington area, Prince George’s police said Tuesday. A second-grade teacher and her 2-year-old daughter were gunned down outside their Fort Washington home Tuesday morning, a double slaying that left family and a classroom of students devastated as police investigate why someone went after the pair.
Few details were immediately available, and no one is yet in custody. NeShante Alesha Davis, 26, was found dead in the parking lot of the Pinewood Hill Condominiums on Palmer Road shortly before 7 a.m. after a neighbor heard gunshots and called 911, police said. Inside a dark blue sedan nearby, Davis’s daughter, Chloe Nichole Davis-Green, was also found shot. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
“This is a profoundly sad day,” said Hank Stawinski, interim chief of Prince George’s County police. “This frankly shocks the conscience.” Hank Stawinski, interim chief of Prince George’s County police, said detectives are following “very viable investigative leads” in a crime that “shocks the conscience.”
Police later identified the woman as Neshante Alesha Davis, 26. The toddler was identified as Chloe Nichole Davis-Green. “This is a profoundly sad day,” Stawinski said. “The notion that someone would be bold enough to take the life of a child and take the life of a young woman and think there would not be consequences is simply unacceptable in Prince George’s County.”
Authorities said the shooting happened about 7 a.m. in the 1300 block of Palmer Road. The killing of Davis’s daughter marks the second homicide involving a child in the county this year. Last month, a 6-month-old girl died after suffering from blunt-force injuries that police said were caused by the boyfriend of the mother’s child.
Police said they were called to the area after neighbors reportedly heard gunshots and at least one person called authorities. “I am enraged that another baby lost a life here in our community,” said Angela D. Alsobrooks, the county’s top prosecutor. “This is the worst day that any one of us can imagine.”
When officers arrived, they found Davis, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, in a parking lot of a townhouse community. She was pronounced dead, officials said. [Tracking D.C.-area homicides.]
Officers also found a toddler who was suffering from a gunshot wound inside a car. The toddler was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, police said. Alsobrooks, Stawinski and the police department’s top command staff all gathered Tuesday outside the two-story brick townhouse as investigators combed the scene and a police dog sniffed through the grass.
“I am enraged that another baby lost a life here in our community,” said Angela D. Alsobrooks, the top prosecutor in Prince George’s County. “This is the worst day that any one of us can imagine.” Teary-eyed family members stood across the street in the cold with heads bowed and hands shoved in their pockets, watching as the medical examiner removed Davis’s body on a stretcher.
Stawinski said police are pursuing “very viable investigative leads” in their search for a suspect or suspects. Davis was a “beautiful mom” with a “wonderful daughter” and “would do anything for anybody,” said one man, who identified himself as an extended relative but requested anonymity for privacy reasons. “I definitely will miss them.”
“The notion that someone would be bold enough to take the life of a child and take the life of a young woman and think there would not be consequences is simply unacceptable in Prince George’s County,” Stawinski said. Davis lived at the home on Palmer Road with her aunt and uncle, said Dimitria Taylor, a cousin who also lives in the house. Davis liked spending time with her family and doing her hair and makeup, Taylor said.
Teary-eyed family members stood across the street in the morning cold with their heads bowed and hands shoved in their pockets as investigators searched for evidence. Most of them declined to speak with the media. Neighbors in the area said they were shocked by the shooting.
One man, who identified himself as an extended relative but didn’t want to be identified for privacy reasons while the investigation was ongoing, said he was crushed. He said he got a phone call early this morning and rushed to the scene. Sherie Matthis, who has lived in the area for 30 years, described the family that lived inside the home as “good people.” Matthis said she often saw Davis in the parking lot playing with her daughter.
He described Davis as a “beautiful mom” with a “wonderful daughter.” “They both had a future,” she added. “This is awful. This is trifling. This is dirty.”
“I definitely will miss them,” he said. A man who lives in the area said he awoke to the sound of three or four gunshots and called 911.
A police dog sniffed through the grass Tuesday morning and around the parking lot. Yellow crime scene tape blocked off a large swath of the Pinewood Condominiums, a series of two-story brick townhouses. “It doesn’t make you feel good,” said the man, who, fearing retribution, also asked to remain anonymous.
Sherie Matthis, a neighbor who has lived in the area for 30 years, described the family that lived inside the home as “good people.” Matthis said she often saw Davis in the parking lot playing with her daughter. “Nothing like that has ever happened around here.”
Matthis said she was shocked to learn of the shooting, especially one involving a young child. Davis, who graduated from Bowie State University in May with a degree in elementary education, worked at Bradbury Heights Elementary School. School officials called parents Tuesday morning, telling them that they would be informing students that Ms. Davis would not be coming back to class.
“They both had a future,” Matthis said. “This is awful. This is trifling. This is dirty.” The school had crisis teams available for students, parents and teachers who will remain on campus “as long as they need it,” according to a statement from Prince George’s County Public Schools.
A man who lives in the area said he woke up to the sound of three or four gunshots. “This is a great tragedy,” said Theresa Mitchell Dudley, president of the teachers’ union in Prince George’s. “The violence in our community affects everyone — our educators, our children, our families.”
“It doesn’t make you feel good,” said the man, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. “Nothing like that has ever happened around here.” On Tuesday afternoon, parents picking up their children at the Capitol Heights school struggled with how they would help them handle the news.
The man, also a longtime resident, said Davis and her daughter were new to the neighborhood and he would see them occasionally playing outside. Tiffany Byrd’s 7-year-old son was a student in Davis’s class. With Davis as a teacher, Byrd’s son improved his reading scores. And the teacher took extra time to look after the boy, who has a medical condition that would sometimes leave him tired or temperamental, Byrd said.
Researcher Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report. “She was really kind and very patient,” Byrd said. “Everything she did, she did with extra care and attention.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article said a boy had died. The child is a girl. Byrd’s son said he and his classmates cried when they were told that their teacher would not be coming back.
He described his teacher as “nice and funny” and liked that she helped him improve his spelling.
“Sometimes I wouldn’t know words, and she said, ‘Sound it out,’ ” Byrd’s son said. “She helped me until I got it right.”
Erik Hines, who was also waiting for his children, said that Davis quickly became a favorite teacher in just her first year in the classroom. His 7-year-old daughter was a student of hers and wouldn’t want to go to school if she knew that a substitute teacher would be there instead of Davis.
“She was very loved,” Hines said of Davis. “She clinged to those kids like they were her own.”
As Hines spoke, his daughter came up to the car and quietly stared at him through the passenger-side window.
Bundled up in her purple coat, she climbed inside and then burst into tears.
“Hey, Baby,” Hines said softly as he wrapped her in his arms and whispered words of comfort.
She continued weeping on his shoulder for a few minutes before he wiped away his own tears and drove away.
Matt Zapotosky and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.