Jamaican carryout owner shot by known customer, daughter says

WASHINGTON - The owner of a Jamaican restaurant is still recovering after she was shot multiple times in a holdup outside of her Northwest D.C. carryout two weeks ago.

The 60-year-old woman had just locked up for the night on Jan. 25 when a gunman demanded her purse. A nearby camera captured the shocking attack on video.

The restaurant owner is lovingly known as "Pinkie," a woman who has run the Jam Doung Style Cuisine eatery on North Capitol Street for the last 17 years. In all that time, only once before had there been trouble.

"It's like we still can't believe that it happened," said the owner's daughter, Janet Stedman.

She has been by her mother's side serving jerk chicken, wings and macaroni and cheese since they first opened the place.

"I got the worst phone call of my life that night," Stedman said. "They just told me, 'Your mom was shot four times,' and I almost died. In fact, I think I died and came back alive."

A nearby surveillance camera captured the incident as Pinkie left the business with the day's receipts. According to Stedman, the gunman wanted her bag, but the two struggled and Stedman's mother was able to pull off the suspect's mask.

"When she pulled his mask off, she recognized him as somebody she offered employment to and was a regular customer," Stedman said. "She said when she saw his face, she couldn't get over it and kept saying to him, 'It's you? It's you?'"

The suspect then shot her four times in the arms and legs.

On Wednesday evening, D.C. police confirmed to FOX 5 that the suspect in this shooting, Cheval Reid, was found shot to death on Irving Street in Northeast D.C. early Tuesday morning.

The carryout restaurant was closed for about a week after the shooting and when it reopened, the community response has been overwhelming.

"Everyone has been calling, everyone has been coming in letting us know they can't believe that happened, letting us know they support us," Pinkie's daughter said.

Stedman said her mother is now out of the hospital, rehabbing and slowly but surely recovering.

A GoFundMe page for Pinkie's medical expenses has been created. To donate, go to https://www.gofundme.com/jam-doung-owners-medical-fund