A 22-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in the stray bullet killing of a D.C. woman who was sitting next to her young son inside an SUV when the gunfire hit her.
Pamela Thomas, 54, was sitting next to her 8-year-old son in the back seat when she was struck as the SUV passed near the 600 block of Division Avenue NE on Feb. 9.
On Friday, police arrested Dion Lee, of Northeast D.C., and charged him with first-degree murder while armed.
Thomas' sister Marilyn Walker said she's processing the news of the arrest.
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"I'm feeling overwhelmed. I feel good. I'm just still hurt because my - that don't bring my sister back, but it bring closure," she said.
On the afternoon of the shooting, Walker had just picked up Thomas and her nephew to go back to Walker's home in Maryland for a birthday party that afternoon when she heard the gunfire shatter through her back windshield.
"I realized when something happened when my glass had shattered. In the back I heard a pow!" Walker told News4.
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The stray bullet fatally struck Thomas as the car drove across from Marvin Gaye Park.
"Her son got out the back passenger side and hollered 'My mom! They shot [my mom]!' So I ran around there and she was slouched over in the back seat of my car," Walker said.
At the time of the shooting, police said they believed the shooter could be as young as 15.
Police said Friday they're still investigating the case.
Several agencies brought the total possible reward amount for the case to $50,000. D.C. police are offering a reward of up to $25,000; the ATF Washington Field Division offered an additional $15,000 and the FBI Washington Field Office offered an extra $10,000.
Police previously released these photos of the suspect:
Police are asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or submit anonymous information to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.
