D.C. police have never established a motive for the deadly shooting of 3-year-old Honesty Cheadle on July 5, 2025.
The toddler was sitting in a car with three relatives on 14th Street SE when police say Charles Rucker walked up and opened fire, shooting the little girl in the head.
In D.C. Superior Court on Thursday, Rucker, 25, admitted to being the gunman. He sat at the defense table in an orange jumpsuit and listened as prosecutors read the evidence against him. Honesty’s aunt burst into tears.
None of the evidence included a reason why Rucker took a child’s life. Honesty’s loved ones walked out of the courthouse with mixed emotions.
“We have to give it all to God. He confessed that he did it, so God is pleased with that. The 30 years, the 35 years? That really is not enough,” Tomika Butler, Honesty’s aunt, said.
In a plea agreement with the government, Rucker agreed to accept a sentence of 30 years for the killing and five years for three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon. Nothing in the plea said he had to give a reason for opening fire.
Honesty was in a Ford Focus in the 1000 block of 14th Street SE at about 3 a.m. on July 5, 2025. Police say Rucker, seen in a surveillance photo hours before the shooting, walked out of his apartment, pulled out a handgun, walked behind the car and opened fire.
Honesty’s three relatives were not injured.
Police say he was caught on camera walking back to his apartment after the shooting.
“We will never get a chance to see her again, hold her,” Butler said. “She never got a chance to start school, so just hearing everything that we just heard, it’s just confirmation her life was cut too short.”
Police say Rucker did one other thing: After the shooting, surveillance camera video shows the then-24-year-old attempt to collect and remove evidence from the scene.
He’s set to be sentenced on Dec. 14.
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