14-year-old arrested in deadly armed robbery of construction worker at Howard University

WASHINGTON — A 14-year-old boy was arrested in connection to the death of a construction worker during what police say was an attempted robbery turned deadly at Howard University earlier this month.

Editor's Note: The video above aired on July 13.

Rafael Adolfo Gomez, 34, of Beltsville, Maryland, was shot to death on July 13.

Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department responded to the area of 6th Street Northwest and W Street Northwest after ShotSpotter, a gun detection system, alerted them to shots fired in the area around 6 a.m. Upon arrival, they found Gomez suffering from a gunshot wound on the sidewalk.

He was taken to a local hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead a short time after. 

Gomez's wife Yasmin Flores says she never imagined that her husband would not come home. 

"In the morning he told me, 'I am leaving my love. When I get to work, I will call you' and he did. He called me and said he was going to change his clothes to start working," Flores told WUSA9.

Flores says the following call she received was from the hospital informing her that her husband of three years, was fighting for his life. 

Gomez was an immigrant from El Salvador who had been living in the U.S. for 10 years. His wife says he was always smiling and willing to help others. She struggles to wrap her head around losing her hardworking husband over money or material things. 

"He got along with everybody. I don't know why this happened to him. People do not touch their hearts before doing bad things, and they don't know who is left suffering," Flores added. 

The police department said Monday that they arrested a 14-year-old of Northeast, D.C. in connection to Gomez's death. He's facing charges of felony murder while armed.

No additional information has been released.