On the afternoon of April 14, 1989, barber Aldolph Martino was cutting a customer's hair at his shop in Southeast D.C. when a masked gunman appeared.

Everybody scattered, including nearly a dozen children who were playing video games. The man walked over to the 27-year-old Martino and shot him several times. Martino was struck in the head and torso and fell dead near the entrance of the shop. The business, Superior Barber Unisex Shop, was in the Benco Shopping Center at 4526 Benning Road.

Martino was one of three people slain in separate shootings that day, a year when D.C. became dubbed the murder capital of the United States. At the time, police said details on Martino were sketchy because authorities were swamped with witnesses and were trying to sort out the information.

Martino, a lifelong District resident known as Al or Al Speedo, lived in the 300 block of 15th Street NE. Police believe he was killed over an argument. But none of the witnesses could positively identify the shooter and the trail grew cold, other homicide cases piled up and Martino became one of the city's 4,100 unsolved killings.

The Metropolitan Police Department seeks the public's assistance in gathering information regarding this incident. Anyone with information can contact police through the tip line at 888-919-2776 or through a text messaging number: 50-411. The D.C. police department is offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction. The case is under investigation by members of the Metropolitan Police Department. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Metropolitan Police Department's Synchronized Operations Command Center at 202 727-9099.,

smccabe@washingtonexaminer.com