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Just hours before he was rushed to Suburban Hospital Dec. 21, 19-year-old Glenmont resident Doodley Linsey Derose was dropping his sister off at school.

"He said, ‘I'll see you when you get home,' " said 17-year-old Marlyn Derose, remembering her brother's final goodbye. "That was the last thing he ever said to me."

It was 1:30 p.m. when three men knocked on the door of the Derose home at 1616 Hutchinson Lane in Glenmont. Doodley Derose, who was in his second floor bedroom at the time with a friend, went downstairs to find an acquaintance standing on the doorstep accompanied by two strangers.

A short time later, the men began to shout, said Doodley's father, Linois Derose, who saw his son usher the first man inside and shut the door, leaving the two strangers outside.

That's when gunfire erupted.

"I was standing up here to watch him when he finished closing the door to ask him who are those people and where did they come from," Linois Derose said Friday, recalling the instant a single gunshot tore through the front door, passing through his son's chest and two drywalls before embedding in the back of a refrigerator in the kitchen.

"He took three steps before he tried to collapse," Linois Derose said, his voice catching with emotion as he described how he lifted his son's body and carried him into the kitchen to dial 911. "I tried to explain to the lady what happened, but when she kept asking me for my information, I said, ‘Ma'am, that's the only thing I know. ... I just need an ambulance right away.' "

Four minutes later, the paramedics arrived to take Doodley Derose to the hospital. By 5 p.m., he was dead.

The circumstances surrounding the murder remain shrouded in mystery even now, almost a week after the shooting took place, according to police, who have yet to even announce a description of the two men who fled the scene just before police arrived.

"As far as the investigation goes, they're not confirming anything at this point, because they're still tracking down leads and following up with the investigation," said Montgomery County police spokesman Cpl. Dan Friz on Monday. "I've heard no new information on what may have caused this; they're still trying to figure it out."

While no motive or apparent cause for the shooting has been announced by the police, the victim's family is convinced his death was a tragic mistake. Linois Derose recalls a brief conversation he had with the man who led Doodley's killers to the house as they waited for police to arrive.

"He said ‘Mister, I don't have anything to do with what happened,' " said the Haitian-born father of four. "I said, ‘What are you telling me? You brought them here; if you brought them here, you must know them, you brought them in!' "

Linois Derose said the man then told him that he did not know the men who were following him, either, indicating that he may have been being followed by them unwillingly, a story Linois was quick to discredit.

"If they're following you outside, you have your cellular phone, why don't you call 911 and say ‘I need help, there's two guys following me?' " he said, shaking his head in disbelief Friday. "It's just not clear to me."

A former honor student at nearby Kennedy High School, Doodley Derose was in his sophomore year studying political science at Virginia State University when he came home last week to spend winter vacation with his family. While the police continue to investigate the shooting, his family awaits Doodley's funeral Wednesday with grim reluctance.

"He loved to play baseball, he loved people," said his mother, Martine Derose, between sobs Friday morning. "He loved his mother; he always called me all the time to say ‘Mommy I love you' and ‘Thank you so much for helping me go to school, I'm going to do well for you.' ... Why did this happen?"

Marlyn Derose struggled to keep her voice level as she remembered her last fond memory of her brother when, around 3 a.m. the morning of his shooting, he dragged her out of bed to watch the lunar eclipse, the first such event to happen on the winter solstice in 372 years.

"I didn't want to look at it at first, but he kept telling me to go and look because it wasn't going to happen again for the rest of my life," she said in a voice heavy with sadness. "It was so beautiful."

jarias@gazette.net