Breakthrough in Cold Case Homicide of Off-Duty Police Officer
Authorities in Baltimore have made a significant development in the cold case homicide of an off-duty Washington, D.C., police officer that occurred in 2017.
The victim, Sgt. Tony Anthony Mason Jr., was fatally shot while seated in a parked vehicle with a woman he was romantically involved with. The woman was also shot during the incident but managed to survive.
After five years of the case remaining unsolved, a recent tip in early 2023 reignited the investigation, leading detectives to arrest Dion Thompson, 24, for the crime. At the time of the shooting, Thompson was 18 years old and is currently serving a sentence in a federal prison for unrelated drug and firearm offenses, according to prosecutors.
While an attorney is representing Thompson for his existing legal matters, they have clarified that they are not representing him in the murder case, which has not yet been documented in online records.
His charging documents in the 2017 shooting don't include a clear statement of motive and they're based almost entirely on the account of someone who knew Thompson but didn't directly witness the crime. The person said Thompson admitted to shooting up a parked car because as he was leaving his friend's grandmother's house, he spotted a vehicle whose occupants he didn't recognize and became paranoid, assuming they "were there to either rob him or retaliate against him for all the robberies he was committing," according to the charging documents.
Thompson learned later from watching the news that the victim was an off-duty police officer, the witness told detectives. Thompson then drove to Philadelphia to get rid of the vehicle he was driving the night of the shooting, prosecutors allege.
Investigators said that Thompson was the leader of a gang called "The Slickest Ones" or TSO, CBS affiliate , citing court documents.
They said he teamed up with accomplices going by the street names of "Man-man" and "Chub" to carry out the shooting. One of them later died in a car crash. Officials said no one else has yet been charged in the case.
Mason, 40, was a 17-year veteran of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department. A $20,000 reward was offered after he was killed, CBS Baltimore reported.
Detectives noted that he was unarmed during the attack and wasn't wearing any clothing to identify himself as a law enforcement officer. They said extensive background checks for both Mason and his companion turned up no signs of criminal or gang activity.
"Justice Served in Cold Case: Sergeant Mason's Tragic Death"
After years of uncertainty, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith announced that the person responsible for Sergeant Mason's tragic death is finally being brought to justice. Chief Smith expressed that while the pain of loss and the memories of that day cannot be erased, there is solace in knowing that justice is being served.
Baltimore State's Attorney Ivan Bates revealed that this case marks the inaugural prosecution by the office's newly established cold case unit, signaling a commitment to seeking justice for unsolved cases.
