Police investigate brutally beaten man dumped in alley; family suspects hate crime

A grieving family is asking for help as investigators search for whoever killed a D.C. man and left him in an alley.

Dalonte Jackson, age 35, was brutally beaten in an apartment at The Paradise at Parkside complex. The attack took place on May 24, during Memorial Day weekend.

He was found in an alley off East Capitol Street — a seven minute drive from the apartments on Jay Street in Northeast D.C.

Jackson died five days after the attack. Family members are still hoping for an arrest.

“And then for them to take his body from this area to East Capitol Street and dump him like waste in the garbage?” said Jackson’s grandmother Sharon Jones. “But someone, an angel, appeared there and called 911.”

Relatives believe Jackson was lured to the apartment and never made it home. A disturbing text he sent to a friend before he was killed indicates he knew he was in trouble.

“And he texts them and he basically said, I don’t feel safe, and if something happens, I am with X, Y,” said Jackson’s aunt, Mottdricka Jackson.

After the beating, Jackson was hospitalized and was on life support for several days before he died. His death came just days after celebrating his 35th birthday.

An autopsy determined he died from multiple blunt force injuries.

“His skull was crashed, he was stabbed numerous times, his leg and his arm was broken,” Jones said. “Beat to death.”

Jackson’s family believes he was targeted, and was the victim of a hate crime because he was gay.

D.C. Police, in response to an inquiry from News4, said “There is no evidence to show this was a hate-bias incident.”

The investigation is ongoing. Police are offering $25,000 in reward money for help in solving the case.

“This is horrific to me, the way they killed him. He didn’t deserve that.”

Jackson donated his organs, saving the lives of four people.

Family and friends recently gathered near Jackson’s home at the Mayfair apartment complex to celebrate his life. They’re remembering him as a good person, a good cook, and a barista.

“He was known in Chinatown as “that coffee man,”” Jackson’s aunt said. “He worked for Starbucks and for Petes’, Capital One Arena, and for Starbucks at the Convention Center.”