Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy, his mother Tawanna and their family work on leaving their hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, Monday, April 23, 2012, after being placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy gathers clothes to wear to his new job in the the one-room hotel room he shares with and his family in northern Virginia, March 29, 2012.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy gets a playful slap from his mother Tawanna as he gets dressed for work in the one-room hotel room he shares with his family in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. After testifying in court against two men who he witnessed committing a murder, he now lives with the fear of being found and killed on the street.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy sits alone on the bed with his thoughts as his mother Tawanna looks at the outside world from the one-room hotel room he shares with his family in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. After testifying in court against two men who he witnessed committing a murder, he now lives with the fear of being found and killed on the street.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy plays with his younger brother Hakeem in the single-room hotel in northern Virginia, August 17, 2011, where he lives with his mother, stepfather, three sisters and younger brother.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy and their family work on leaving their one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012, after being placed in a witness relocation program after her oldest son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Ayisha Bellamy uses the bathroom for privacy as she talks to a friend on the phone in the hotel room she shares with her family, a place which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012, after being placed in a witness relocation program after her brother Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy sits along on a bed he shares with his two sisters in the one-room hotel room which he and his family have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012, after being placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel's cousin Marvin looks outside in the hallway to see if it is safe before going outside to play basketball, from the the one-room hotel room the family shares in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. After testifying in court against two men who he witnessed committing a murder, he now lives with the fear of being found and killed on the street.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy and his younger brother Hakeem walk to the basketball courts from the the one-room hotel room the family shares in northern Virginia, April 18, 2012. After testifying in court against two men who he witnessed committing a murder, he now lives with the fear of being found and killed on the street.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy and goes up for the basket against his cousin Marvin on the basketball courts not far from the the one-room hotel room the family shares in northern Virginia, April 18, 2012. After testifying in court against two men who he witnessed committing a murder, he now lives with the fear of being found and killed on the street.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy spends long hours of the day with members of her family in the the one-room hotel room the family has called home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 18, 2012. After testifying in court against two men who he witnessed committing a murder, he now lives with the fear of being found and killed on the street.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy shares the bed with his older sister while their family of six lives in a one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 8, 2012, after being placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy listens to her son Darel describe how he was attacked and beaten up outside the place where works, April 8, 2012. The family was placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy describes and re-enacts to his mother how he was attacked and beaten up outside the place where works, April 8, 2012. The family was placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy describes and re-enacts to his mother how he was attacked and beaten up outside the place where works, April 8, 2012. The family was placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy walks alone in the empty hallway after he was attacked and beaten up outside the place where works, April 8, 2012. The hallway is one of the few places he can get privacy and silence to think to himself. He and his family were placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood. They have spent the last three years living in a one-room hotel room.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy and her family work on moving from their one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, Monday, April 23, 2012, after being placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy and her family navigate through thick brush to avoid being seen on the public streets while they work on moving their belongings from their one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012, to an apartment they just found. They were placed in a witness relocation program after her son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in their southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy and her family navigate through thick brush to avoid being seen on the public streets while they work on moving their belongings from their one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012, to an apartment they just found. They were placed in a witness relocation program after her son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in their southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy and her family navigate through thick brush to avoid being seen on the public streets while they work on moving their belongings from their one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012, to an apartment they just found. They were placed in a witness relocation program after her son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in their southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy and her family navigate through thick brush to avoid being seen on the public streets while they work on moving their belongings from their one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012, to an apartment they just found. They were placed in a witness relocation program after her son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in their southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy enters the new apartment he and his family of six are moving into, from the one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. The family of six was placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy opens the blinds for the first time in the new apartment she and her family of six are moving into, from the one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. The family of six was placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy's sister Ayisha laughs on the phone in the new apartment she and her family of six are moving into, from the one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. The family of six was placed in a witness relocation program after her brother Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy looks into a new and empty refrigerator in the new apartment she and her family of six are moving into, from the one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. The family of six was placed in a witness relocation program after her son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy and her daughter Ayisha take a look around at their spacious new apartment they and the family of six are moving into, from the one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 23, 2012. The family of six was placed in a witness relocation program after her son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Without even a bed to sleep on, Darel Bellamy is wrapped up in a blanket on the floor in the new apartment he and his family of six are moving into, from the one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, April 24, 2012. The family of six was placed in a witness relocation program after her son Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Darel Bellamy looks from the patio doors of the new apartment he and his family of six are moving into, from the one-room hotel room which they have had to call home for the last three years in northern Virginia, July 10, 2012. The family of six was placed in a witness relocation program after Darel, then a minor, was witness to a murder in his southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood.
Witness Unprotected
Tawanna Bellamy keeps cool by a small fan as men work to repair the air conditioning in her apartment building in northern Virginia, July 10, 2012. Only a few months ago she and her family were living in squalor in a one-room hotel room for three years after being placed in a witness relocation program by the D.C. District Attorney's office after her son Darel was witness to a murder outside of his southeast Washington D.C. home when was was 16.
Witness Unprotected
Photography by Rod Lamkey Jr.
2502 Pomeroy Road in southeast Washington, D.C. is a lonely, dark place at night. A long road up a steady hill, turning into the apartment complex there’s only one way in and one way out. It’s the perfect place for a murder or revenge.
To many people in the nation’s capital, the night of October 21, 2008 was like any other, however on this particular night things would change the life of Darel Bellamy and his family forever. Tawanna Bellamy arrived home with bags of groceries when her 16 year-old son Darel was home in the apartment late in the night and things seemed like normal.
Then the shots rang out.
But gunshots were something the teenager and his family heard every day, so he went downstairs to help carry in the groceries. Off in the distance under the street lights two men were running away into the darkness, as the body of his friend
Tinsley Miller lay dead or dying. Badly beaten with a blunt instrument, with several teeth knocked out and multiple gunshot wounds, his death was ruled a homicide. Darel was one of four witnesses that night as he stood over the body of his friend.
Days later, people in the area informed detectives that Darel witnessed the murder and Darel knew that if he had “snitched” on suspect James Brooks, that he would wind up like his friend. Dead.
According to Darel, the detectives promised him a car, a home and could move anywhere he wanted and that he and his family would be kept safe in return for his testimony in court “They told me that I don’t have anything to worry about, I’m going be a paid man, and they gonna make sure I get me a car, big house, move where I wanna move, anywhere I wanna move. And that’s not true, I didn’t get shit” Darel said.
Following Darel’s cooperation with the police the Bellamy family of six spent the next three years living in two different one-room hotel rooms. All of them together, in one room. “We were like a bunch of rats trapped in a cage with no space to breathe” Tawanna said.
One day in April, while walking down a side street near their hotel, one of Darel’s sisters passed by a sign for an available apartment. In the hotel room the mood picked up as they family had a glimpse of hope that they may have a home.
Darel remembers “When I first heard that we got our own place I didn’t believe it, I was just like yeah whatever, I done heard this before and it happened several times but we never got it. And when we finally got it and when I came in I was smiling the whole time, I was happy.”
View interviews with the Bellamy family below. The full HD version of the interviews is available for licensing. Please contact Rod Lamkey.
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