A 25-year-old woman was shot and killed near her home in Northeast D.C. Wednesday night after a group of men wearing ski masks ambushed her and a man.
Marcquetta Cunningham, 25, and a man were shot about 6:15 p.m. on the 4200 block of Edson Place NE, about one-half mile southeast of the Minnesota Avenue Metro station, police said.
The pair was walking when the men approached them and began to fire as many as nine shots, witnesses told News4's Pat Collins. Cunningham was shot multiple times; the man was shot in the leg.
Cunningham and the man were rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
The woman's family is stunned, cousin Tina Hill said.
"Her mother can't even explain the depth of what's she dealing with, to have to bury her oldest child," she said. "I don't know why this happened."
A 20-year-old man, Muhammed Washington, was shot in a similar ambush just a block away on Oct. 6, as News4 reported. That case is still open.
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Residents of the neighborhood say they avoid going outside. "It's been like living hell," said Juan Gaither, a resident for 17 years.
D.C. is now averaging three murders per week.
"We have all these senseless killings," Cunningham's cousin said. "I don't know what's going on, but it needs to stop."
No information on a suspect in the murder of Marcquetta Cunningham was released immediately. The investigation is ongoing. Police are offering a reward of as much as $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is asked to call 202-727-9099 or submit information anonymously by sending text messages to 50411.
