richard karisJune 19, 2017

On November 12, 2005, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Prince George’s County Police responded to the parking lot of a convenience store in the 4600 block of 68th Avenue in Landover, Maryland for a reported shooting. When officers arrived they found 30-year-old Richard Anthony “Ricky” Karis with multiple gunshot wounds.

He was pronounced dead on the scene. According to a 2011 article written by for the Washington Examiner, Richard and a friend were on there way to Washington DC when they stopped at the convenience store. The article states that Richard was asleep in the passenger seat when his friend went into the store to make a purchase. As the friend returned to the car he was shot in the back, after regaining consciousness he saw Richard lying in the parking lot. Though there were multiple witnesses, investigators are still working to establish a suspect and motive in this case.

Richard, or Ricky as his family and friends called him, was murdered not far from his childhood home. Ricky is described by his mother as a huge football fan, who as a child played for the Landover Hills Boys and Girls Club and then for Archbishop Carroll High School. To add to this violent tragedy, Ricky leaves behind a son he never met, Richard Anthony Karis, Jr. was born 5 months after his father’s murder.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit at (301) 772-4925.   Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call the Crime Solvers tip line at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or text “PGPD [space] plus your tip” to CRIMES (274637) on your cell phone or go to www.pgcrimesolvers.com and submit your tip online.

According to the Prince George’s County Crime Solvers, Inc. website there is still a cash reward of up to $25,000 being offered for the tip that leads to the arrest and indictment of the suspect(s) responsible for the unsolved murder of Richard “Ricky” Karis.


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