Four indicted in Greenbelt drive-by killing of 14-year-old boy
Four suspects, including two 18-year-olds and two juveniles, were indicted in the drive-by killing of 14-year-old Carltin Bayong in Greenbelt. The case had stayed open for months.
Prince George’s County prosecutors have indicted four people in the drive-by killing of 14-year-old Carltin Bayong, giving Greenbelt its first major public update in a case that had remained active for months.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson announced the indictments April 10, saying the defendants include Jamarri Ruffin, 18, Abdourahmane Sylla, 18, and two male juveniles. All four face first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a violent felony. County officials said all four have been held without bond.
Greenbelt police said Bayong was shot and killed around 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2025, near Franklin Park Apartments in the Cherrywood Terrace area of Greenbelt. Early reports said a silver Infiniti with dark-tinted windows sped into the area and someone inside fired multiple rounds into a group of youths before the car fled. Police also said the vehicle did not have a front license plate.
Detectives spent months reviewing evidence and working with regional law-enforcement partners to identify and locate the people they say were responsible. The indictment marks a shift from an open homicide investigation to a formal prosecution path, a change that carries weight in a city where the killing of a child in broad daylight rattled families and neighbors.
The violence reached into the school community as well. Greenbelt News Review reported that Bayong lived in Greenbelt and was a student at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in the class of 2029. School staff brought in counselors, psychologists and student-support workers after the killing, and support remained available for students who needed it.
The shooting also unsettled residents in Franklin Park. FOX 5 DC reported that some neighbors said the violence made them consider moving, while NBC4 Washington reported that police had not identified a motive and continued to ask anyone with information to come forward. Greenbelt police increased patrols in and around the area after the shooting.
For Prince George’s County, the case lands against a grim backdrop. The county finished 2024 with 114 homicides, a reminder that even when investigators eventually make arrests, each killing still leaves a deep mark on the neighborhoods, schools and families left behind.
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