Paul Trevon Blackwell, 26, was killed during a robbery in the backyard of his family’s Capitol Heights home on the evening of July 31, 2008. He and four friends were playing spades just before 9 p.m. in the 100 block of East Mill Avenue when two masked men, one armed with a handgun, demanded everyone empty their pockets and lie on the ground. As Blackwell was turning to comply he was shot in the upper body; the assailants fled and a witness reported a white Ford Taurus as the getaway vehicle.

Known to family as Tre, Blackwell lived with his parents in the same two-story brick house where the shooting occurred. He was unemployed and managed diabetes. His mother heard the gunshots and found her son grievously wounded; a friend was holding his head as he cried out that he was dying. The shooting was ruled a robbery homicide, and there have been no public announcements of arrests or identified suspects.

Anyone who was in Capitol Heights on July 31, 2008, or who has information about a white Ford Taurus seen near East Mill Avenue that night is asked to come forward.