NE Man dies after going to visit his mom

23-year-old was shot twice on Monday; 2 others hurt in incident

A 23-year-old Northeast Washington man who was shot Monday night in Southeast Washington was later pronounced dead, D.C. police said Tuesday. A relative said he was in the neighborhood where he was killed to visit his mother.

Police identified the victim as Troy A. Fenwick of the unit block of Underwood Place. They said he had been shot at least twice. Two other people were shot and wounded in the same incident, which occurred about 10 p.m. in the 3200 block of 23rd Street, authorities said.

An initial report said the police were looking for a man dressed all in black. No additional information was available Tuesday about motive or suspects.

An aunt described Fenwick as a "family man" who "loved his children."

"I know one thing," Thelma Fenwick said. "He took care of home." She added that he "worked all the time," often at low-paying jobs, to take care of the children.

A resident of the neighborhood where he was killed, which is near Alabama Avenue and Suitland Parkway, reinforced the description of Fenwick: "He was a good person. Kind of a jokester."

Acquaintances said they understood that Fenwick had attended Garfield Elementary School, which is across Suitland Parkway from where he was shot. One said he had attended Johnson Middle School, on Bruce Place SE, less than a mile from where he was shot.

The fatal shooting came at a time when the homicide rate in the District has declined to its lowest level in many years.

As of Tuesday, the 300th day of 2009, police reported 114 homicides in the District this year, compared with 156 at the same time last year.

This year's figure is about 27 percent below last year's, and if the trend continues through the end of the year, the total number of homicides would be 139.

That figure would be the lowest in Washington in at least 20 years and would be 30 fewer than the number recorded in 2006.

That figure, 169, was the lowest in the city in at least 10 years. Last year's total was 186, and the year before that, it was 181.