Family mourns mom killed by stray bullet in Southeast carry-out

WASHINGTON - "It’s hard, but we’re coping with it," Gloria Henson said.

Henson is the mother of the 54-year-old woman from Southeast D.C. who police believe was killed by a bullet meant for someone else. Her name is Dale Henson.

Her family says Dale usually goes to sleep early, and they didn’t want to believe it was her that was killed, but it turns out she was inside a restaurant picking up food for a grieving family member when bullets began flying outside.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, a 15-year-old and another man were outside the Moon Star Carry-Out around 8:50 p.m. Tuesday night when someone walked up to them, shot them, then ran away.

READ MORE: 15-year-old charged after woman killed in Southeast DC triple shooting

Police said the 15-year-old pulled out a gun and returned fire.

It’s unclear how, but police say some of the bullets were fired into the restaurant.

One of those bullets hit Dale Henson in the head.

"She’s a loving person," Tameka Keyes said. "She was a family-oriented person. She loved to help any and everybody. She didn’t care who you were, if you needed her help, she was there to help."

Keyes is one of Henson’s three daughters.

"She was the one that made everybody laugh, sometimes cry. Made you happy to be around her. She was just that type of person," Keyes said. "I didn’t believe it."

MPD has not arrested the shooter that began this sequence of events.

Dale Henson’s family is hoping for justice.

"Hopefully, they catch everybody," Keyes said, "She didn’t deserve this. She was too kind of a person to deserve to go out the way that she went out."