HYATTSVILLE, Md. — Prince George's County Police have identified the man charged in a deadly shooting and a spree of carjackings Sunday that spanned from Capitol Heights, Maryland to Northeast, D.C.
Daeyon Ross, a 22-year-old from D.C., is accused of shooting 56-year-old Kurt Modeste to death during an attempted carjacking, as well as killing two dogs belonging to another one of his alleged carjacking victims.
The spree began just after noon near the intersection of Addison Road South and Rolling Ridge Drive. Police say Ross, armed with a gun, carjacked a Honda CRV. He then got into a crash in the stolen car near Central Avenue and Ritchie Road, ditched the car and ran away from the scene.
Police say Ross then attempted to carjack an Acura ILX in the drive-thru lane of a McDonald's on Ritchie Road. When the driver, Modeste, tried to get away, Ross allegedly shot him multiple times. Modeste managed to drive a short distance before he was pronounced dead.
Ross then carjacked a Toyota Scion, also in the drive-thru, that had three dogs inside. Police said he killed two of the dogs, before driving away in the Scion heading westbound on Central Avenue.
Officers from several agencies followed Ross, as he crossed into D.C. At the intersection of 52nd Street and Sheriff Road NE, he got out of the Scion and carjacked a fourth victim, stealing a GMC Terrain, but got into another crash. When officers approached Ross at the crash scene, an officer with the Capitol Heights Police Department fired shots, but neither the officer nor Ross was injured.
"It's extremely rare to come across an individual who has such a disregard for life," said Acting Deputy Chief Zachary O'Lare of the Prince George's County Police Department.
Modeste was a father of five who had worked as a Metrobus operator for more than 20 years. His widow, Pamela Modeste, told WUSA9 that he was a "great guy," but said she was too distraught to talk about her family's loss.
Ross has been charged with first and second-degree murder, armed carjacking, assault, firearms offenses, aggravated cruelty to an animal and additional charges.
The 22-year-old is also facing at least 11 charges in D.C, including aggravated assault, armed carjacking, destruction of property and being a felon in possession. He is currently being held in DC Police custody, pending extradition to Prince George’s County.
According to court documents, Ross had a bench warrant issued against him before Sunday's carjacking spree for violating probation conditions by carrying a gun. He was on probation from an armed robbery he committed at 16; he held people up at knifepoint on the Metro in 2017. He was charged as an adult, but ultimately served five years in a juvenile rehab facility.
D.C. Superior Court records show Ross was arrested on Aug. 11, 2022 on multiple charges for allegedly carrying a handgun despite his felony conviction. According to an affidavit, Ross allegedly had a “wide-eyed stare” when he saw officers while walking in the 1400 block of Congress Place SE and then took off running while grabbing his waist band. Officers chased him, during which Ross allegedly pulled out a black handgun and threw it on the ground. Ross was taken into custody shortly thereafter and the gun was determined to be a Taurus G3 9mm with 13 rounds of ammunition.
Ross was charged with being a felon in possession, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of unregistered ammunition, altering identification marks of a weapon and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia dropped all of those charges two months later, however, after Ross’ public defender filed motions challenging the constitutionality of the search under the Fourth Amendment and of the charges under the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which established a new “historical tradition” test for evaluating firearm regulations.
Under D.C. law, conviction of carrying a firearm as a felon carries a minimum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum sentence of up to 10 years. Federal prosecutors did not provide a reason for their request to dismiss the charges.
The case remains under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 301-516-2512 or contact Crime Solves at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or online at www.pgcrimesolvers.com. You can remain anonymous. Please refer to case number 23-0038636.