Prince George's County murder solved 16 years later

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The murder of a restaurant manager in Prince George's County remained unsolved for 16 years until detectives said a suspect surprised them and confessed to the crime.

David McCoy was shot and killed outside a bank in Capitol Heights, but his story didn't make the nightly news as it happened the day after DC snipers Lee Boyd Malvo and John Muhammed were captured in 2002.

Aengus McCoy, David McCoy's son, was just 7 years old at the time when an officer knocked on his family's door to tell his mother the news.

"Yeah, I was sitting on the stairs," Aengus McCoy recalled. "It was awful."

The officer told the family that David McCoy, the daytime manager of Tuckers Restaurant in Upper Marlboro, was shot and run over by two men who got away with about $2,000.

"I remember that really clearly," Aengus McCoy said. "I don't remember a lot when I was 7, but I remember that clear as day."

Investigators said David McCoy was followed from the restaurant on the morning of Oct. 25, 2002, and confronted after leaving the bank.

"Mr. McCoy refused to give up the money bag unfortunately and over the struggle for the money bag the subject who had the gun in his hand fired one round which struck Mr. McCoy and the victim fell to the ground," Det. Bernie Nelson with the Prince George's County Police Department said. "After falling, the suspect jumped back into the vehicle and upon trying to escape in the getaway car actually ran over Mr. McCoy a couple of times."

Detectives received a good description of the getaway car and followed solid leads through the years, but the case went nowhere until about seven years ago when they received an anonymous tip.

The caller said they felt terrible about what happened and wanted to tell police who they should be looking for. The tip was good and investigators followed solid leads. They even found the getaway car used in the crime and seized the vehicle. But the case really didn't come together until detectives took a trip to a North Carolina jail to interview their prime suspect.

"So my partner and I decided to drive to North Carolina and interview him," Nelson explained. "Surprisingly he provided us with a full confession."

In August, Levy Moore was indicted for the murder of David McCoy. When he showed up in court, Aengus McCoy and some of his relatives were there in attendance.

"I didn't feel much. I thought I would," Aengus McCoy said. "I don't know, I guess I thought I would be angry and would want to yell at him or say something, but once I was in there I didn't feel much of anything."

David McCoy was known as a "whirlwind" of a man, an extrovert who loved the beach, cooking and being with his family.

"It's not fair but I am glad somebody's going to pay for it," Aengus McCoy said.
Investigators said they have good leads on a second suspect in the case and are hoping to make an arrest soon.