WASHINGTON – A mother is pleading for answers nearly a year after her son was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in the District.

The unsolved murder happened on South Dakota Avenue here in Northeast in January of this year. The victim’s mother says her grief is never-ending.

“Every day moving forward is going to be a struggle for me. This does not go away. This is not something that could be easier with time. You learn to live with it. That’s all you do,” Janet Realbuto told FOX 5. 

Realbuto is reflecting on the murder of her 23-year-old son Ryan, a graduate of St. Bonaventure University who was doing a year of post-graduate service in D.C. when he was shot and killed on this snowy street during an attempted robbery.

“I still have not gotten over the shock and the reality that my son was murdered walking down the street in Washington D.C. Not coming from a bar. Not a drug deal that went wrong. Not somebody that he wronged. He was coming from a church service. He did not even know the person that got out of the car and that killed him. And this act…this one split second has completely changed all of our lives,” she said. 

Ryan Realbuto was from upstate New York. He came from a close-knit family and was one of three brothers. His family’s life was shattered on Jan.18, 2024 when he was killed in the 5000 block of South Dakota Avenue, Northeast. His death is one of 115 unsolved murders in D.C. this year.

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“The pain. The trauma. The horror of what goes on with the family members after somebody is so suddenly and brutally taken. No goodbyes, no nothing. Just like in a split second, he was gone. Gone,” Janet said. 

Ryan had attended a church service with two friends at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Shaw. They’d taken a Metro train to Fort Totten and decided to walk the rest of the way home because it was a beautiful, snowy night.

But on the way, they were robbed at gunpoint and Ryan was shot dead in front of his two friends just after 10 p.m. 

“He was the kindest, most gentle person and I just feel that whoever did this has not been caught. There’s been no justice. There has been no consequence. There’s been nothing and for my 23-year-old beautiful son. He’s in the ground,” Janet said. 

Janet’s 2024 yearbook is a scrapbook of notes and letters and news articles about Ryan.

“I have not read them all,” she said. 

And Janet says the police reaction to the recent murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York City leaves her longing for a larger police response, a year out from her son’s murder. 

“I want to talk to the mayor in D.C. I would like to talk to the higher-ups to see what’s going on. I need some assurance, something to know that this case is not just on the bottom of somebody’s desk right now. That there’s a network of people still trying to find who murdered Ryan,” she said. 

FOX 5 spoke to D.C. police Tuesday. They say this is not a cold case and that it remains a very active case with leads still being pursued but there have been no arrests yet – only one home security camera video and it didn’t provide any helpful information.

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A landmarked Gilded Age manor is a rare find on the market in the nation’s capital. But one address matching the profile just listed with ties to the founder of the National Press Club, one of the world’s leading professional organizations for journalists. Now listed for $10.5 million, the four-story mansion includes a host of modern amenities that complement its historic appeal. Daniel M. Heider of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty holds the listing. 

Named the Owl’s Nest, the mansion was built in 1897 as a country house for journalist William L. Crounse within the Forest Hills community. He tapped Appleton P. Clark, Jr. to design the hilltop retreat, which DC Historic Sites credits as “one of the city’s best examples of the Shingle style.” The nearly two-acre property was reportedly bought by the Jewish Day School in 2001 with plans to tear it down. It was designated a historic landmark that same year, amid those efforts, and Washington developer Chris Donatelli was next in line to buy the pad for $2.69 million in 2007. 

The property had fallen into disrepair by that time. So, Donatelli hired local architect George Myers and Gibson Builders for a major renovation that expanded and modernized it before moving in a year later. It now spreads out across 10,780 square feet in two wings, one restored and one brand new, with eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

While its many special details, including a stone archway at the entrance, a central turret, and stained-glass panels, speak to the home’s past, Donatelli’s time at the residence gives it even more political cachet. The architect and his wife, Karen, often hosted high-profile events at the home in Forest Hills where “wealthy Washingtonians would weekend,” Heider tells Mansion Global. Their most notable guest was former President Barack Obama, who reportedly attended a dinner party in 2014. “It’s the perfect home for a diplomat, an ambassador, or global CEO,” he continues. 

Massive stone walls are exhibited along the home’s castle-like façade, plus asymmetrical massing that gives it a pleasantly uneven shape and weight, visually. Inside the grand foyer, a wood-paneled staircase sits across the way with a stained-glass window depicting an owl. The home’s name and this detail honor the land’s history of attracting owls as one of the highest points in the D.C. area. Standout spaces added onto the mansion include a chef’s kitchen with custom cabinetry and Wolf appliances, a converted library with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, and two covered porches.  

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The primary suite is situated on the second floor with a covered terrace and spa-like en suite featuring checkered marble flooring. The abode’s top level, meanwhile, provides access to the airy turret bedroom with mullioned windows. Back downstairs, a sun-soaked rear patio with a lap pool and alfresco dining space rounds out the Owl’s Nest in northwest D.C. 

Click here for more photos of the sprawling Washington, D.C. mansion.