Barksdale's nephew - the son of his sister - rose through the ranks of the organization and was eventually given the high-rise tower at 221 West Fremont, lucrative territory. But his inability to handle a common argument in the lobby of the building led to a shooting - a slaying that was more panic and self-defense than any intended consequence. Barksdale saved his nephew from prison by bribing a key witness in the case - and outcome that angered a city judge who, learning from McNulty the extent of Barksdale's organization, pressured the police to begin the probe of the drug crew. Caught by detectives muling a package of heroin from New York, D'Angelo came close to turning state's witness against the rest of his family in exchange for the chance at a new life. A pretrial jail visit by his mother, Brianna Barksdale, convinced him to take a twenty-year sentence instead. Fearful that he would not be able to do the time and concerned as D'Angelo began to distance himself from his uncle inside the state prison, Bell ordered his murder and did so without the foreknowledge of Avon or his sister. D'Angelo was strangled in the prison library and a lax investigation by state troopers led to the death being classified as a suicide.