WASHINGTON — A man believed to be responsible for a shooting that left a 6-year-old boy dead on the Fourth of July was arrested in South America, according to the boy's family.
Ahsan Payton and two adults were wounded when someone began shooting at an Independence Day celebration along Akron Street in Temple Hills on July 4. All three victims were taken to an area hospital, where Ahsan died days later. The other two victims survived.
Weeks after the shooting, no arrests had been made but Prince George's County Police Chief Malik Aziz said an arrest was in the works while speaking on a podcast earlier this month.
"We are working on, I would say a great and promising lead, and here is it right here: We know the person who did it," said Aziz on the Council Conversations Podcast. "And we're going to arrest him. We're working with some partners to bring that person to justice."
Nearly a month later, it appears that an arrest may have been made.
According to the Guyana Police Force in South America, a 33-year-old Maryland man was arrested for murder in Guyana on Monday. Police say Rakeem Antonio Gilgeours was found with his American passport and $12,000.
WUSA9 reached out to the Guyana Police Force for more information and learned from a spokesperson that Gilgeours was wanted for a murder committed on July 4 in Prince George's County.
The family of Ahsan Payton told WUSA9 that the Prince George's County Police Department confirmed Gilgeours is the suspect in custody in connection to the deadly shooting.
The Guyana Police Force says Gilgeours has already been sent back to the United States. The Prince George's County Police confirmed that an arrest had been made in connection to Ahsan's death a day later.
Days after the shooting, PGPD Chief Aziz also said that there were two shooters. WUSA 9 is working to confirm if investigators still believe that to be the case -- and if so, who the other suspect is.
This news also comes one week after the funeral for 6-year-old Ahsan Payton, which his family's planner called a beautiful service.
The GoFundMe she had set up for the family ended up raising $5,233.