Statement from the Family of Demetruis Alston

On Sunday, November 16, 2025, our beloved Demetruis Alston died while in the custody of Metro Transit Police at the Anacostia Metro Station. Since then, police and officials have begun their familiar and heartbreaking campaign to assassinate the character of someone they killed. We reject these false narratives entirely. They are cruel, dehumanizing, and designed to shield those responsible from scrutiny and accountability.

We are asking everyone in D.C. who hears Demetruis’ name not to take the police’s words as truth simply because they wear a badge or hold a title. We ask you to look deeper, to question who benefits from distorting who Demetruis was, and to remember that every life taken by police is followed by an attempt to change the story. We will not allow them to do that to him.

The world deserves to know the real Demetruis, not the version being created to justify what happened to him. Every person deserves to be remembered as their full, authentic self, and Demetruis was no exception.

Demetruis was born and raised right here in Washington, D.C. He had three sisters, two brothers, and an entire family who loved him deeply. His heart was enormous. When people say he would give you the shirt off his back, they aren’t using a figure of speech, that was truly who he was.

He also had the most incredible sense of humor. He loved to laugh and joke, and he kept us laughing right along with him. He could imitate anybody, especially our grandmother, and he did it so well it would bring tears to our eyes from laughing. He was always the life of the party, filling every room with joy.

He loved his family fiercely, especially his two nieces and two nephews, who adored him. He remembered every birthday, every small moment, every detail that made each of us feel seen and cherished.

He had a deep faith, a brilliant mind, and a natural talent that he hoped to channel into a dynamic career as a model. Fashion was his art form and his joy, a way he expressed his spirit to the world.

Our love for Demetruis is tremendous, unconditional, and unwavering. His love for us was beautiful, all-encompassing, and life-giving. His absence leaves a profound hole in our family and in our hearts.

We want the world to remember Demetruis as he truly was: loving, generous, joyful, hilarious, creative, faithful, brilliant, and deeply cherished by all of us. We will miss him tremendously. And we will continue to speak his truth loudly, clearly, and with all the love he gave to us.