Justin Michael Green Collins, 25, was apprehended in District Heights and detained in Washington, DC, in connection with the September 2025 death of 29-year-old Akwalabeng Fontava in his North Bethesda condominium.
Around 7:40 a.m. on September 21, 2025, officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police were dispatched to the 5900 block of Montrose Road for a reported medical emergency.
Inside, first responders discovered Akwalabeng Fontava with a deadly gunshot wound.
He was pronounced dead on the scene.
But the case did not end there.
Detectives discovered that a man and woman were allegedly kidnapped and put into a vehicle following the shooting.
Police say the man was eventually released in Silver Spring.
Investigators tracked the automobile to Westfield Montgomery Mall, where they discovered the woman and Sheldon Milan Boykins, 37, of Hyattsville, who was arrested the same day.
Joshua Carter, the second suspect, was caught in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at the home of a relative. He was extradited to Montgomery County on October 24, 2025.
Collins’ mother, Shatym Neko Sanderson, 46, of Silver Spring, was arrested on November 12, 2025, and charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
Homicide investigators discovered that Collins’ mother provided financial assistance while he was on the run, which may have facilitated his ability to evade law enforcement during that time.
Sanderson was freed in January 2026 with a $5,000 unsecured personal bond.
Collins is being arrested in DC on pistol possession allegations stemming from his arrest on Tuesday, March 17.
Boykins and Carter are still being jailed without bond at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit while they await trial.