Suspect in Boy's Slaying Was a Lookout, Officials Say

The District man charged this week in the killing of an 8-month-old boy as he sat in his car seat is believed to have been the lookout in the crime, and Prince George's County police are still seeking the suspected gunman, authorities said yesterday.

Anthony M. Savoy III was fatally shot Sept. 3 during what was apparently an attempt to kill the boy's father. Anthony Maurice Savoy II was near a minivan in a Suitland apartment complex parking lot when a man armed with a high-powered assault weapon pumped more than a dozen shots into the vehicle.

The infant, strapped into a baby seat in the back of the minivan, was struck in the head. Savoy, 23, suffered gunshot wounds to the upper body, from which he has recovered, police said. The gunman fled in a dark Impala with two other men, police said.

Detectives believe the gunman did not know Savoy, said two law enforcement sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Karon Clifton Wilson, 21, the District man arrested Thursday night, knows the elder Savoy and could have pointed him out to the gunman, the sources said.

Maj. Andy Ellis, a police spokesman, said detectives are gathering evidence to identify the gunman and obtain an arrest warrant.

Police suspect that the attack was connected to the killing Aug. 31 of Ashlee Russell, 18, who was shot in an alley in the 100 block of 46th Street NE.

Prince George's investigators believe that friends of Russell thought Savoy was involved in her death and targeted him for retaliation, the two law enforcement sources said. No one has been charged in the Russell killing.

Russell was apparently lured into the alley where she was shot and might have been killed over a dispute involving the sale of a gun, the sources said.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.