Danielle Steele Brown says she replays the last few minutes of her husband's life in her mind almost every night. Over and over again, she sees it: the shadowy figure standing near the tow truck that took her husband's car early one morning six months ago, the flash of gunfire from the truck, her husband's body crumpling to the ground.
She says she has gone over every minute of the shooting a thousand times, wondering when the killers would be found, whether justice would ever be served.
Yesterday, Steele Brown said justice seemed within reach after the early morning arrest of a Prince George's County man who police say is one of several involved in the slaying of her husband, Raymond Brown.
"It's been the longest six months of my life. I feel like at least now there's a little bit of peace," said Steele Brown, 34.
Police charged Neiman M. Edmonds, 19, with second-degree murder yesterday in connection with the fatal shooting of Brown, a well-known music engineer who was killed last year after his car was stolen by men in a tow truck.
The slaying occurred about 2:30 a.m. Oct. 13 in Mitchellville after Brown, known by many in the music industry by his professional name, Scottie Beats, chased down men in a tow truck who he believed were attempting to steal his Chrysler 300.
Sources familiar with the investigation said Brown, 36, was shot at close range when he confronted the driver and two others in the tow truck, while two accomplices watched from a nearby car. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
Steele Brown said she watched in horror that night as a man inside the truck wordlessly fired at her husband. Before she knew it, the tow truck was gone, and she was left holding her husband as he lay bleeding on the pavement a few hundred yards from the newlywed couple's home in the 600 block of Stillwater Place.
"It's a nightmare. You spend most of your time trying to block that image out of your head, watching the most important person in your life taken away from you when it could have been prevented," Steele Brown said.
"The last words he heard was me telling him I loved him."
The slaying shocked many in the quiet, middle-class Lake Arbor neighborhood where Brown lived. It also raised questions about the county's emergency call system.
Before the shooting, Brown called 911 to report that his car was being towed, but dispatchers told him to call back later.
Days after the shooting, county authorities placed three Prince George's emergency communications workers on administrative leave after an investigation revealed that they had apparently treated the incident as a repossession and had not followed procedure.
Yesterday, police said Edmonds was arrested without incident about 8:30 a.m. in the 5400 block of Blaine Street NE in the District. He remained in police custody late yesterday.
The sources said more arrests are imminent.
The sources familiar with the case said Edmonds might have been one of two men seen waiting nearby in a Cadillac when Brown confronted the tow truck driver near the 11000 block of Southlake Drive after the Chrysler was taken from his home. Neighbors reported seeing the tow truck and the Cadillac circling the area minutes before the shooting.
Police would not say whether Edmonds shot Brown.
Edmonds was indicted on a motor vehicle theft charge in January 2006. The charge was later dropped.
Shortly after the slaying, police said it was unclear whether the Chrysler had been stolen or had been targeted for repossession. Several sources with knowledge of the case, however, said that investigators believe the black, crane-type tow truck was stolen by a five-man car-theft ring hours before the shooting from a man who operates a private towing business in Prince George's.
Greg Lattimer, an attorney for Steele Brown, said neighbors had called authorities about several car thefts in the area before the fatal shooting, including one a day earlier in which a tow truck fitting the description had been seen taking another resident's car.
