A suspect was arrested and charged in the shooting death of an 18-year-old Louisiana State University student. She had been attending a New Years Eve party in Washington D.C. with friends.
Police in Washington D.C. said that Jelani Cousin (18), of Northeast Washington was arrested by officers on Tuesday, armed, and charged with Second-degree Murder. He is accused of fatally shooting Ashlei Hinds, 18 years old, inside a D.C. Hotel room at the dawn of New Year’s Day.
The shooting took place just before 1:20 am on January 1, 2024. It was the first reported homicide in the nation’s capitol.
WASHINGTON DC, SHOOTING LEAVES TWO DEAD AND TWO INJURED NEAR THE NATIONALS PARK
Jelani Cosin has been arrested after fatally shooting Ashlei Hinds, 18, in a D.C. Hotel room early on New Year’s Day.
Hinds celebrated with a group in a room at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Friendship Heights. This is about six miles north of Downtown D.C. Her friends were there, as well as people she did not know very well.
A member of the area council told Fox 5 how the celebrations became ugly when someone was asked to leave, and then shots fired.
Hinds was found by the responding police with bullet wounds in her hotel room. Police said she died on the spot.
D.C. Police distributed CCTV screenshots of the wanted criminal on Tuesday, and arrested Cousin that same day.
Ashlei Hinds was shot and died on New Year’s Day. Jelani Cousin (18) has been charged with second degree murder after fatally shooting Ashlei Hinds, an 18-year-old college student.
DC CRIME IS “STAGGERING”: NOE LANDINI
Hinds’ parents told FOX 5 that she was a rising-star, after graduating from Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. high school in Prince George’s County, where she was the Student Government Association President and a National Honor Society member last year.
She was on her winter break at Louisiana State University, where she was studying sports administration in her first-year.
Ashton Hinds, her father, told FOX 5 with tears in his eyes: “Ashlei is a wonderful child.” “I’ll miss her so very much.”
Hinds’s mother, Tiffany Falden said that she spoke to her daughter from around 11:55 pm on Sunday until about midnight. They exchanged messages of “I love” and wished each other a Happy New Year.
Embassy Suites at Friendship Heights Google Maps
CLICK HERE TO GET FOX NEWS APP
Falden said to Fox 5, “I want justice for any other families. It could happen to anyone.”
“I mean, today, people just walk down the street, and things happen. Love your family. Keep them close. “Keep them close and pray that it won’t happen to you, your family members or anyone else.”
FOX 5 reported that there were 274 homicides in Washington D.C., the most murders since 1997.