Mother Found Shot Dead in Washington Alley, Missing Toddler Recovered Safely

A 2-year-old boy was found safe in a nearby apartment Wednesday morning, ending an hours-long Amber Alert and confirming the worst for investigators, who had just linked the child to his mother’s shooting death in Northwest Washington. Jamillah Gales, 25, was found in a rear alley off the 600 block of Kenyon Street NW with apparent gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene by D.C. Fire and EMS.

Police said officers responded at about 10:52 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, after reports of a shooting. Gales had no identification on her when officers arrived, and detectives initially did not know who she was. Only later did investigators determine that she had been with her son, Royce Hawkins, shortly before the killing.

The child was last seen around 6:50 p.m. wearing a long-sleeve yellow-and-blue striped shirt. Once officers connected the homicide to the missing toddler, the Metropolitan Police Department issued an Amber Alert early Wednesday. The alert was canceled after Royce was found unharmed in a residence near the homicide scene shortly before 11 a.m., and he was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll said officers used tips generated by the Amber Alert and went door-to-door in the neighborhood to narrow down a possible apartment of interest. Police later found the child in an apartment with the suspect and another adult male, who investigators said was not involved in the offense. Court reporting said video from a nearby residence also helped lead police to the arrest.

MPD identified the suspect as 28-year-old Hakeem Jones of Northwest Washington, and charged him with second-degree murder while armed. Court reporting later said Jones was being held without bond in D.C. jail. Police also said Gales was believed to be of no fixed address, a detail that deepened the uncertainty around where she and Royce had been staying in the hours before the shooting.

Investigators have not laid out a public motive, but court reporting said prosecutors believed Gales and Jones had been arguing before the gunfire. That leaves the case with a chilling central fact and a still-open set of questions: a child survived, a mother did not, and the fight over what happened inside that apartment is only beginning. Family members described Gales as a devoted, loving mother and said Royce was “her whole world.” Through April 24, Washington had recorded 26 homicides in 2026, a grim backdrop to a case that moved from missing-child panic to murder investigation in less than a day.