Orlando Police arrest 15-year-old in shooting death of Operation Desert Storm veteran

ORLANDO, Fla. - A 15-year-old teen has been arrested after he allegedly fatally shot a U.S. veteran back in February, the Orlando Police Department said. 

The teen has been charged with first-degree murder with a firearm after several months of investigation. 

"There are young people in our communities that are making bad decisions, and these costing them their life because while the suspect is not dead, basically after being charged with this, their life is about over," said Bishop Kelvin Cobaris. 

Investigators say Angela Sutton Washington, 60, was shot and killed outside a shopping plaza on North Lane on February 7. Washington, an Operation Desert Storm veteran, was well known in her community and lived just down the street from where she was killed, according to her family.

"I cannot sit here and say that I’m not angry. I can’t say that I’m not confused, but in the climate in which we live, it’s not surprising," said the victim's son, Fernando Washington, in an interview with FOX 35 in March. 

Orlando police detectives said Angela Sutton Washington was not the target of a shooting that took her life on Feb. 7, 2023. [Credit: Family handout]

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The arrest comes over five months after Washington was killed. Orlando Police credits their homicide detectives as well as community cooperation and contributions from Crimeline as the reason a suspect has been identified.

"Being a woman who served our country, who sacrificed and gave her life for our freedom, and to see that she gave that service and her life would be taken down by senseless violence in the street for not doing anything wrong," said Cobaris.