Corporal Toatley was shot and killed while conducting an undercover narcotics investigation in Washington, DC. He had been deputized as a federal agent, in order to take part in a regional narcotics task force conducted in Maryland and Washington, DC. 

As Corporal Toatley attempted to purchase narcotics from the suspect, he was shot in the head at close range while sitting in a car. After the shooting, the suspect fled on foot. Corporal Toatley was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries approximately two hours later.

The suspect was later arrested in New York and extradited to Washington, DC, where he entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to life without possibility of parole.

Corporal Toatley was president of the Coalition of Black Maryland State Troopers and had been with the Maryland Stat e Police for 16 years. He was survived by his wife, two sons, ages 5 and 18 years, and an 18-month-old daughter,