A Washington, D.C. family is in mourning after 3-year-old Honesty Cheadle, a joyful African American toddler, was fatally struck by a stray bullet during the early hours of the July 4 holiday weekend.
The shooting occurred around 3 a.m. on 14th Street Southeast while Honesty sat in her family’s parked car. Her father had just pulled up and was preparing to bring her inside when a gunshot shattered the vehicle’s glass, striking the little girl in the head.
Honesty was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but died a few days later. Her tragic death has deeply shaken her loved ones and rattled the D.C. community.
“I can’t bring her back. I just want her here,” said Tonia Cheadle, Honesty’s aunt, who had been waiting to pick her up that morning.
Family members still visit the scene where the bullet pierced the car, a somber reminder of what was stolen from them.
Her uncle, Raymond Cheadle, a special police officer who responded to the call, urged the shooter to come forward.
“You took a baby,” he said. “Remember her name, Honesty, because she was honest. She was an innocent child.”
Raymond also pleaded with the public to speak up:
“Whoever did this, knuckle down and say, ‘Man, I messed up.’ That could be your mother, that could be one of your nieces, that could be your little sister or your own child.”
Authorities have now linked 24-year-old Charles Rucker to the shooting and have arrested him after a $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
A neighbor captured the heartbreak of the community: “That could have been my child,” they told WJLA.
