Mother still searching for answers 1 year after son was gunned down leaving church service

WASHINGTON - A mother is pleading for answers nearly a year after her son was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in the District.

The unsolved murder happened on South Dakota Avenue here in Northeast in January of this year. The victim’s mother says her grief is never-ending.

"Every day moving forward is going to be a struggle for me. This does not go away. This is not something that could be easier with time. You learn to live with it. That's all you do," Janet Realbuto told FOX 5. 

Realbuto is reflecting on the murder of her 23-year-old son Ryan, a graduate of St. Bonaventure University who was doing a year of post-graduate service in D.C. when he was shot and killed on this snowy street during an attempted robbery.

"I still have not gotten over the shock and the reality that my son was murdered walking down the street in Washington D.C. Not coming from a bar. Not a drug deal that went wrong. Not somebody that he wronged. He was coming from a church service. He did not even know the person that got out of the car and that killed him. And this act...this one split second has completely changed all of our lives," she said. 

Ryan Realbuto was from upstate New York. He came from a close-knit family and was one of three brothers. His family's life was shattered on Jan.18, 2024 when he was killed in the 5000 block of South Dakota Avenue, Northeast. His death is one of 115 unsolved murders in D.C. this year.

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"The pain. The trauma. The horror of what goes on with the family members after somebody is so suddenly and brutally taken. No goodbyes, no nothing. Just like in a split second, he was gone. Gone," Janet said. 

Ryan had attended a church service with two friends at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Shaw. They'd taken a Metro train to Fort Totten and decided to walk the rest of the way home because it was a beautiful, snowy night.

But on the way, they were robbed at gunpoint and Ryan was shot dead in front of his two friends just after 10 p.m. 

"He was the kindest, most gentle person and I just feel that whoever did this has not been caught. There's been no justice. There has been no consequence. There's been nothing and for my 23-year-old beautiful son. He's in the ground," Janet said. 

Janet's 2024 yearbook is a scrapbook of notes and letters and news articles about Ryan.

"I have not read them all," she said. 

And Janet says the police reaction to the recent murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York City leaves her longing for a larger police response, a year out from her son’s murder. 

"I want to talk to the mayor in D.C. I would like to talk to the higher-ups to see what's going on. I need some assurance, something to know that this case is not just on the bottom of somebody's desk right now. That there's a network of people still trying to find who murdered Ryan," she said. 

FOX 5 spoke to D.C. police Tuesday. They say this is not a cold case and that it remains a very active case with leads still being pursued but there have been no arrests yet – only one home security camera video and it didn't provide any helpful information.