By Chrisleen Herard
Special to the AFRO
More than two months after DaVon Fuller was shot and killed in a parking lot near his home, a man walked into a D.C. police station and surrendered himself in connection to his murder.
“The loss of our beloved nephew, DaVon Fuller, has been an ongoing struggle for our family. We miss him greatly but have never lost hope that the truth would one day be revealed,” Fuller’s aunt, Nicole Williams, told the AFRO. “Wednesday’s hearing ruling has given us a sense of comfort and we are more determined than ever to pursue justice for DaVon.”
On Dec. 27, 28-year-old Deandre Miles turned himself in to the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch and was charged with premeditated first-degree while armed for the October shooting of Fuller, a former D.C. council aide.
Authorities from the Fifth District Metropolitan Police Department responded to a report of a shooting during the early hours of Oct. 16, shortly before 5:30 a.m. When officers arrived in the 1500 block of Maryland Avenue, they discovered Fuller, conscious but suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Fuller was then transported to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
Before becoming an aide to Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, Fuller was crowned homecoming king, a football star, a fraternity brother of Gentlemen of Dunbar and a college graduate from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Fuller then moved on to work under Nadeau in hopes of furthering anti-violence initiatives and bringing positive change to the streets of D.C., however, after a 2019 unlawful firearm arrest and his mother’s loss in a battle against breast cancer, Fuller’s life took a turn.
On the morning that Fuller was killed, Miles alleged to authorities that Fuller was being ‘disrespectful’ to his grandmother, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. After clashing in a cash-checking shop and then a grocery store, Miles claimed Fuller began to raise his hand with a knife before he fatally shot him.
The judge ordered no bail for the suspect as he awaits a preliminary hearing on Jan. 9.
Williams said she was happy with the judge’s decision.
“I was relieved that the judge recognized that there wasn’t any evidence for self-defense as the accused tried to portray.”