Prince George’s County Police are still looking for the man who shot and killed senior physics and astronomy major Justin DeSha-Overcash inside his 38th Avenue home earlier this month.

The murder was the 11th in as many days in Prince George’s County this year. After the shooting, which occurred on the 8800 block of 38th Avenue on Jan. 11 at about 11:30 a.m., police said they had enough evidence to suggest the incident was both targeted and drug-related — most likely a botched robbery. But friends and family have lined up to defend DeSha-Overcash, and his mother, Karen DeSha, said she will not back off police until they retract their initial report.

“This one moment of horrific, of horrendous, of ungodly — what happened to my son is not going to define 22 years of his life,” DeSha said the week of the shooting. “Everyone loved him except one person. I will take nothing less than a public retraction and apology.”

Following the shooting, police said they confiscated enough marijuana to suggest a dealing operation, packaging materials and a digital scale from the house, which was blocked off by police tape for hours after the shooting.

County police are still searching for the suspect, who was described as a black man with a thin build and a possible wound on his face — DeSha-Overcash allegedly hit his attacker in the face with a glass jar before he was killed. At the time, the man was wearing dark clothing and some type of mask or scarf to cover his face, witnesses told police.

“This was not a random act,” Deputy Chief Kevin Davis said that day. “When you engage in a criminal lifestyle, you are going to cause someone enough concern to do you wrong.”

Police recently said the suspect was heard specifically asking for Justin in the house, and the rental property had been a place of interest for police because of possible drug-related activity. County police spokesman Maj. Andy Ellis would not specify whether police had been building a case against DeSha-Overcash and said the best information about a possible drug operation out of that house came to police after the senior had been killed.

Despite DeSha’s allegations that police mischaracterized her son, police officials said releasing information about the circumstances of DeSha-Overcash’s shooting was necessary to promote public safety.

“It’s a tough line to walk between informing the public yet being respectful of a victim,” Ellis said. “It’s not an easy job.”

Ellis said despite the evidence, police never wanted to take any honor away from the victim. Rather, their early reports stemmed from an obligation to keep the public informed and safe.

“It was never our intent to embarrass or tarnish the reputation of a crime victim,” Ellis said. “Our focus in Justin’s case remains on identifying and apprehending the person who killed him.”

On Friday, DeSha staked out county police headquarters in Palmer Park with a cooler, a beach chair and pictures of her son to demand an apology.

She said she would not leave until she got her retraction, specifically of statements made by Davis immediately following the murder.

DeSha, who will be meeting with various police officials today, said there was no way her son was a drug kingpin. She said he simply didn’t have the time.

When her son wasn’t at one of his two jobs, she said, he was tutoring athletes or working as a teaching assistant.

He also worked at the observatory as a telescope operator in addition to taking a full course load every semester, DeSha said. And even then, she added, he made time for his friends and family. He would have graduated in May.

When asked if there was any way DeSha-Overcash could have been selling drugs, she said she couldn’t know for sure. Still, she insisted police had spoken too soon, just hours after the shooting took place.

“[Justin was] not perfect, but he tried to live with honor and integrity,” DeSha said. “I just want my son’s honor back. … No one deserved what happened to my son.”

DeSha has involved Maryland Crime Victims, a local advocacy group.

Pauline Mandel, a legal director for the group, was not ready to say police directly violated Article 47 of the state constitution, which states crime victims should be treated “by agents of the State with dignity, respect, and sensitivity during all phases of the criminal justice process.”

As the police investigation continues, Mandel said it is her priority to work closely with DeSha to make sure she is comfortable and that discussions with police go smoothly.

At this point, Ellis added, little else from the incident is salient to police.

“It doesn’t matter to us that the son may have been involved in some type of marijuana distribution operation,” Ellis said. “But we have to put that information out to inform and help the public protect themselves.”

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