Deon Kay

Deon Kay, 18, was shot and killed by Metropolitan Police Department Officer Alexander Alvarez in Southeast Washington, D.C. on September 2, 2020, roughly six seconds after Alvarez got out of his squad car pursuing a group of men reported to be brandishing guns. Body camera footage showed Kay running, then turning toward Alvarez with a gun in his hand a moment before Alvarez fired once, striking him in the chest; the gun was later found roughly 98 feet away, and it remains disputed whether Kay tossed it or the bullet's impact knocked it from his hand. Federal prosecutors declined criminal civil rights charges in November 2020, and the D.C. Auditor's office separately found the shooting legally justified as self-defense while concluding officers had “squandered” chances to de-escalate. Nearly five years later, in July 2025, a civil jury found Alvarez liable for wrongful death, negligence, and battery, awarding Kay's mother $655,000; the city fought to overturn or reduce that verdict before settling for a lesser amount in 2026. No one has ever been criminally charged in Kay's death.

Washington, DC

• 2020: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The pursuit, the six-second span between Alvarez exiting his vehicle and firing, and the shooting, per Metropolitan Police Department body camera footage released publicly.
• A gun was recovered approximately 98 feet from where Kay fell; police and prosecutors said the footage showed a gun in Kay's hand about a second before he was shot, though whether he threw it or the bullet's impact caused it to fly from his hand remains disputed.
• The U.S. Attorney's Office announced in November 2020 that it would not bring federal criminal civil rights charges, unable to determine beyond a reasonable doubt that Alvarez willfully violated Kay's civil rights.
• A 2021 report by the Office of the D.C. Auditor concluded the shooting was legally justified as self-defense, but that the officers involved had “squandered” opportunities to de-escalate and that Alvarez had unnecessarily placed himself in the situation that led to Kay's death.
• Kay's mother, Natasha Kay, filed a wrongful death lawsuit; in July 2025, a District of Columbia Superior Court jury found Alvarez liable on all counts — wrongful death, negligence, and battery — and awarded $655,000 in damages.
• The D.C. Attorney General's Office, representing Alvarez, moved to overturn the verdict or reduce the damages, arguing the award exceeded typical amounts in police shooting cases; the presiding judge expressed skepticism of that argument.
• In early 2026, the city and Kay's family reached a settlement for an amount less than the jury's $655,000 award but more than the attorney general could approve unilaterally, with Mayor Muriel Bowser's approval, resolving the case without a further appeal.

• Whether Kay threw the recovered handgun toward Alvarez before being shot, as police maintained, or whether the bullet's impact caused it to leave his hand, was disputed at both the federal review stage and in the 2025 civil trial, and was never resolved by any criminal proceeding since none was brought.
• The specific findings behind the D.C. Auditor's conclusion that officers squandered de-escalation opportunities, beyond the report's public summary, have not been fully detailed.
• Why the city's attorney general pursued a reduction of the civil jury's verdict rather than accepting it, given the judge's own stated skepticism of that position, was disputed by the family's attorney as an effort to avoid accountability.

• The Washington Post — “Deon Kay's mother wins $655,000 verdict over son's death by police”
• WUSA9 — “Jury reaches verdict in civil suit against DC Police for deadly 2020 shooting of Deon Kay”
• The Washington Informer — “D.C. reaches settlement in Deon Kay wrongful death case”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs