NBC4 Washington | A gunman killed a 24-year-old man who had autism and his home health aide in a Northeast D.C. home Wednesday night.
Devan Miler and his caregiver, 27-year-old Lekelefac Fonge, of Lanham, Maryland, returned to Miler’s grandmother’s home on Rosedale Street NE before 10 p.m. after a day out together, police said. Shortly after they arrived, a gunman entered the home and opened fire.
“It’s like a nightmare,” said Miler’s aunt Christine Warren. “The last person that I thought that would be getting killed is my nephew, Devan.”
Witnesses told police they saw a man running from the home.
Police identified 27-year-old Davon Payton of Alexandria, Virginia, as a suspect. He is wanted on a warrant for first-degree murder and should be considered armed and dangerous.
“My nephew Devan did not deserve this,” Warren said. “My nephew is sweet. Everybody loves my nephew.”
Miler’s father also was a victim of gun violence. He was killed three years ago.
Fonge was known as the joy of his close-knit family that extends from Cameroon, where his mother still lives, to his uncle’s home in Prince George’s County.
“He was awesome,” Warren said. “He loved Devan like he was his own.”
Fonge would regularly send money, food and other things to those in need in Cameroon.
His uncle Gilbert Fonge, who said he raised Fonge like his own son after his father died, said the young man found great satisfaction in his work as a home health aide to Miler.
Warren said their deaths are an unwelcome reminder of how much work there is to be done in the city.
“What I can say to these city council members is they need to keep on pushing to make sure that they pass laws and stuff to make sure they protect the people in our neighborhood and make sure people in our neighborhood are safe at all times,” she said.
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